A Publication of WWD
Clear IntentionsBeauty companies are being pressured by consumers like never before to address
systemic racism and a long-standing lack of corporate diversity — or risk alienating them for good. For more, see pages 9 to 11. PLUS: What worked (and what didn’t)
at Cosmoprof’s first virtual fair and inside the kitchen with Nordstrom’s Gemma Lionello. ILLUSTRATION BY D'ARA NAZARYAN
ISSUE #15JUNE 12, 2020
Beauty Bulletin
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2
JUNE 12, 2020
THE BUZZ
¬ Of the five largest prestige beauty markets in Europe, Germany has shown the most resilience in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the NPD Group, sales declined 65 percent in Germany over the brick-and-mortar closure period (March 16 to April 19), and 23 percent overall from January to May of 2020. By contrast, France, Spain and Italy declined 88 percent, 87 percent, and 86 percent, respectively, during their closure periods.
Germany had the shortest store closure period of the five countries, and the drugstore channel in the country remained open. The NPD Group attributes the industry’s bounce-back to factors like the e-commerce channel, which took on over 60 percent of the sales and doubled its growth rate during closures, despite growing only 14 percent as of Week 11 (March 15).
Prior to the pandemic, German Selective Beauty hadn’t demonstrated growth or decline from 2019, the group said. Pre-
pandemic, skin care and makeup were on the downward slope, while categories like fragrance and hair care indicated growth. During the pandemic, skin care outperformed beauty overall, which NPD attributes to consumers’ propensities to at-home, DIY beauty and spa treatments.
In the weeks following Germany’s reopening, e-commerce is continuing to take a larger role in sales than before the pandemic, said the NPD Group’s, Samantha Grand, in a statement. “The main question is how much of the brick-and-mortar decline will be compensated by the online dynamism, and how resilient could the prestige beauty industry be towards the new prioritization of consumer spend,” she said. “The beauty industry will have to engage with consumers in more creative ways, involve new technologies, and find ways to make the shopping experience appealing and enjoyable during these changing times.” — J.M.
¬ Meiyume has developed a touchless product sampler for the post-coronavirus retail landscape.
To match consumer concerns over the hygiene of traditional testers, Meiyume has come up with a touchless way for clients to test products in-store as the brick-and-mortar channel reopens, the company said in a statement. Its new, no-contact sampler is motion-activated, and works with fragrances and liquid product.
The testers are one-size-fits-all, both in terms of product sizing and retail environments. They are adjustable to various packaging sizes, and Meiyume is also offering customized designs for retail or brand partners. The testers can be placed on pre-existing displays or sit on counters. It requires product off-the-shelf, and doesn't require any tester product to be manufactured separately. Retailers can power them with either AC power or battery packs. They are expected to roll out in retail environments over the next few months.
As retailers rethink their in-store
environments, Meiyume's touchless device joins the ranks of low-contact machines with single-dose sample packets, expected to be another pillar of the sanitation-focused brick-and-mortar experience.
The announcement of the innovation comes after stores across the U.S. reopen either for in-store or curbside services, including New York City's nonessential businesses, which reopened on June 8 as the region entered phase one of a broader reopening strategy. — James Manso
Meiyume Launches Touchless Retail Sampler
Prestige Beauty in Germany Gets Boost From E-commerce
A Douglas store in Frankfurt, Germany.
By the Numbers: Black-owned Beauty Brands Spate’s data shows the most-searched brands. BY JAMES MANSO
A HANDFUL OF Black-owned beauty brands are getting an increase in awareness and consumer interest. According to search data from Spate, viral efforts on social media to get the word out about Black-owned businesses, as a part of larger Black Lives Matter efforts, paid off for some. Oui the People, for example, saw search growth of more than 1,000 percent. Also on the list: Uoma Beauty, founded by Sharon Chuter who also launched the “Pull Up or Shut Up” campaign, pressuring corporations to release the number of Black people working for them. Here, the most-searched Black-owned beauty businesses, ranked by percent growth, week-over-week from May 23 to June 6.
1. oui the people +1150%
2. uoma beauty +925%
3. black girl sunscreen +733%
4. knc beauty +567%
5. blk and grn +400%
6. nyakio +335%
7. mented cosmetics +257%
8. beauty bakerie +244%
9. plant apothecary +233%
10. buttah skincare +212%
Source: Spate
Oui The People saw a search volume increase of over 1,000 percent.
MONCLER INKS DEAL WITH
INTERPARFUMS¬ From puffer jackets to perfume: Moncler has inked a deal witih Interparfums for the production of fragrances and related products. The first fragrance is scheduled to launch in early 2022; the agreement calls for products to retail in both Moncler’s own boutiques, as well as select department and specialty stores, plus travel retail. Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini said fragrance is consistent with the brand’s strategy to “further enrich the clients’ experience with the brand. Interparfums holds the license for Coach, Jimmy Choo, Montblanc, Kate Spade and Karl Lagerfeld, among others. — Luisa Zargani
Meiyume's new touchless
sampler works with off-the
-shelf product and does
not require tester units.
Backstage at Moncler Genius, fall 2020.
4
JUNE 12, 2020
NEWS FEED
ENVISIONING THE beauty
industry in 2030 was supposed to
be the theme of the annual edition
of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna
but a pandemic and three date
postponements later, the Italian
beauty trade show format had to
deal with a shorter-term forecast and
question what the cosmetics world
will look like after COVID-19 instead.
The coronavirus crisis permeated
every aspect of the WeCosmoprof
weeklong event that ended on June
10. The format represented a digital
alter ego of the physical trade show,
whose 53rd iteration was originally
slated to run March 12-16 in Bologna,
successively postponed to June and
September before eventually being
forgone.
Intended to ensure a continuity
of business relationships among
beauty operators, WeCosmoprof
attracted more than 40,000 users
from 100 countries who subscribed
to the show's web site to access to
information of more than 3,000
international exhibitors. Last year, the
physical event registered more than
265,000 visitors from 150 countries.
In particular, the format offered
companies and buyers a virtual
environment that facilitated networking
and negotiations, and provided
insightful content and discussions via
a packed schedule of webinars.
“The support of international
players hailing from the world
of design thinking and digital
innovation has been essential to
launch this initiative,” said Enrico
Zannini, general manager of the
show's organizer BolognaFiere
Cosmoprof. “The teamwork with key
players has represented a significant
change of perspective for us: we
don't work as a single institution
anymore, but as a leading group
integrated with international entities.
The market is demanding solutions
made by the whole industry, so to
meet these needs and offer growth
opportunities to our community,
the best way is to create synergies,”
he added, underscoring that the
format's reception was positive and
in line with his expectations.
The Cosmoprof My Match software
was at the core of the experience:
After filling out an extensive form
to indicate preferences and areas of
interest, users were able to access a
private section of the web site where
they could find companies matched to
their needs selected by an algorithm.
In this digital space, visitors could
also browse through the rich directory
of products, connect directly with
exhibitors via private messages and
schedule meetings in virtual rooms
for one-to-one presentations.
Exhibitors joining the digital
showcase ranged from established
players to emerging labels.
“We decided to participate because,
in this unprecedented moment in
history, investing our energy in digital
events is key to maintain visibility and
allows us to welcome new commercial
opportunities,” said Gianandrea
Ferrari, vice president EMEA strategic
marketing and account development
of Intercos Group.
“The pandemic has prompted many
companies in the beauty sector to
revise their marketing, communication
and sales strategies, taking maximum
advantage of digital channels. From
the very beginning of the pandemic,
Intercos Group launched and
implemented its own digital wave in
order to stay close to clients, creating
a promotional plan and a tailor-made
reorganization to support the business
in this crucial moment.”
He pointed to WeCosmoprof as
“an example that there are still many
opportunities and new forms of
interaction to explore even in the world
of cosmetics, where in-person meetings
have traditionally been essential” and
praising the platform as it “was well
done and facilitated interaction.”
Ferrari said the group is “already
planning to unite digital events —
which allow us to create new content
and opportunities — and in-person
experiences, which satisfy the need to
feel and hold the product. It is vital that
these two strategic realities live side-by-
side in order to truly satisfy the needs
of our clients, today more than ever.”
“We are convinced that the
traditional physical format, is more
productive, but we're also aware
these new ways of communicating
and developing the business will
be increasingly used to reach sales
goals,” echoed Valentina Dragoni,
marketing manager of cosmetics
packaging specialist Lumson.
The executive called WeCosmoprof
“an opportunity to communicate
outward, widen our client reach
and implement new contacts” and
praised its intuitive and easy-to-use
format. Yet she had concerns on the
event as “there have been very few
contacts, so it didn't resulted into a
real business opportunity.”
As Dragoni suggested to pivot the
platform toward a more business-to-
business approach and to implement
the “the opportunity to filter more
the contacts to avoid the ones too
generic or not akin for business
[purposes],” Zannini replied that
perfecting the match-making tool is
among the priorities for the future.
Brands joining a Cosmoprof event for
the first time had disparate feedback,
too. While the founder of the 001
Skincare London brand Ada Ooi valued
the experience positively as it enabled
her to connect with new customers and
retailers from outside the U.K., Mathieu
Marcoulides, chief executive officer of
Swiss skin-care label Virisens, pointed
out that “the functionalities of the tool
deserve to be refined to be faster and
more user-friendly.”
QVC Italy's senior beauty buyer
Silvia Gatti echoed the sentiment
acknowledging the organizer's efforts
but noting that the digital experience
needed to evolve in a more agile and
efficient way. “Searching new brands
and companies can be improved since
opening new conversations virtually
was very challenging,” she said.
Some buyers might not have
used the platform to finalize orders
but still found it instrumental for
scouting and networking purposes.
Mario Parteli and Luca Della Croce,
founders of Italian start-up Abiby that
offers beauty-box subscriptions and a
dedicated e-commerce, said the event
was helpful to lay the foundations of
future collaborations and to introduce
themselves to new brands.
The educational component was
the strongest asset of the digital
experiment. Supported by an app, the
schedule of more than 30 webinars
attracted between 200 to 500 users
per talk.
Overall, the discrepancy between the
business and educational axis showed
the event's increasing need of providing
informative moments beyond mere
trade opportunities to stay relevant and
upgrade its status in helping firms.
This dichotomy additionally
proved that the beauty industry
couldn't rely solely on digital — at
least not in the near future. The lack
of physical experience and product
testing influenced the WeCosmoprof's
assortment as well. For instance, the
absence of many fragrances companies
was tangible, while skin care was
among the most popular categories.
The increased number of sanitizing
hand gels and products also signaled
the impact of the virus on this edition.
The product directory,
conceived as a basic e-commerce
display, additionally highlighted
the importance of efficient
communication, visual assets and
packaging for a brand. With no
customized booth designs luring
buyers on the hunt for novelties,
companies that invested in
developing a strong visual identity
had an extra advantage.
Assessing The First Digital Beauty Trade Show The weeklong WeCosmoprof digital event centered on forecasting the impacts of COVID-19 on the industry. BY SANDRA SALIBIAN
5
JUNE 12, 2020
NEWS FEED
“BY THE GRACE OF GOD, the
salon was not touched,” said hair
colorist Jason Backe alongside his life
and business partner, hairstylist Ted
Gibson. The couple, married in the
summer of 2014, are the owners of
Starring by Ted Gibson in Los Angeles.
Though L.A. county had given
beauty salon owners the clearance
to resume business on May 29,
vandalisms and lootings in the city
began the very next day. “Saturday
night was pretty much the worst of
it in our neighborhood,” continued
Backe, whose salon is located on South
La Brea Avenue, by West 3rd Street.
The duo boarded up their
storefront and officially reopened on
June 3. Like many, they were eager to
get back to work, though they had a
leg up from most salon owners.
“We had no idea it would be a
COVID-19-safe concept,” Backe said.
It’s a “smart” salon with technology
(including voice-commanded lighting
and music) that distinguishes it from
others facing these unprecedented
times. By appointment-only, the
boutique business is cashless, and has
five chairs, each 8.5 feet apart, with
no front desks or assistants. In fact,
there are only two employees, and
when it comes to retail, merchandise
(like Gibson's own product, the $52
Shooting Star Texture Meringue)
can be purchased through a digital
booking platform, a partnership
with Amazon. The business, opened
last year, is their fourth salon after
previous endeavors in New York City,
Florida and Maryland in the outskirts
of Washington, D.C.
“We have had to modify our
booking time and salon schedule
[to allow fewer clients a day],”
Backe said. On the Wednesday they
reopened, the salon was at capacity
with six appointments. “While we
can still be profitable, a lot of people
won’t be able to do that, so I have
a lot of concern for my fellow salon
owners, and how they’re going to
pull through this.”
The duo fell on hard financial times
themselves during the coronavirus
pandemic. “We’re not big savers,”
Backe said. “When we had to close
the salon and Hollywood shut down,
and we couldn’t go to New York to do
clients, we literally had $2,000.”
They’re recovering, one client at a
time. They've raised the price of cuts
and color by 20 percent to meet the
higher cost of conducting business.
Gibson’s cuts, known to be on the
higher end, cost $2,400 (though the
starting price at the salon is $180),
while color by Backe is $500 for
every half hour.
“If a woman didn’t value her
hairdresser in January, in June she
definitely does,” Gibson joked. Along
with taking the necessary protocols
outlined by the state, all clients are
given a hot towel and hand sanitizer
as they enter the salon, he said, and
along with their masks, they're given
face shields to wear when hair is
shampooed and conditioned.
The industry knows Gibson as
one of the leading names in the
profession, from his work backstage
during fashion weeks to his long list
of Hollywood clients, Angelina Jolie,
Lupita Nyong'o, Anne Hathaway,
Priyanka Chopra and Jessica
Chastain, to name a few. He's also
made a number of TV appearances;
viewers may remember him best
from TLC’s “What Not to Wear.”
Still, Gibson has not garnered many
of the accolades of his peers and
spoke candidly about the challenges of
being a Black hairstylist in the fashion
and beauty industry. “I still have not
necessarily gotten the recognition from
the fashion or the beauty business that
I feel I deserve, and I know it’s because
I’m Black and because I’m gay,” he
said as the conversation turned to the
recent protests, sparked by the police
killing of George Floyd, in support of
Black Lives Matter.
“If I was white and had a French
accent, and I was 5’8’’ and blonde-
haired and blue-eyed and 160
pounds, it would have been different,”
continued the 54-year-old, who’s been
working in the industry for more than
two decades. “It would have been
different,” he repeated, with emotion.
“But I know I have to be better,
that I’ve always had to be better than
my white counterpart at the same
level as me because of the color of
my skin,” he went on. “I haven’t used
it as a crutch, if you will. I’ve used
it to my advantage. I knew that it
was important for me to have this
platform that I’ve created to be
able to show the next generation
of hairdressers that they can do
whatever it is they want to do in the
business. I think I’ve done that, but I
haven’t gotten the recognition that I
feel like I deserve. I haven’t.”
“Just as an example,” jumped in
Backe, “Ted has worked with the
most famous, beautiful, well-known,
respected women in the world but
never once has had an American
Vogue cover.”
Gibson agreed: “Vogue always
thought of me as a Black hairdresser.
I’ve done Anna Wintour’s hair. I’ve
done her hair several times, but they
only ever thought of me as a Black
hairdresser.”
Whether working with Jolie,
Hathaway or Chastain, “I never got
an option to do [those Vogue covers],
even if I had a relationship with the
actresses,” he shared. “They would
never hire me for the job. Meanwhile,
if Oprah or a Black woman would be
on the cover, what would happen is
a white hairdresser would do it. The
only one — and this is probably in
the last five or six years — if Beyoncé
would have a cover, Kim Kimble
would do it. And it’s because Beyoncé
would demand it.”
How can industries improve? “Stop
denying it,” he said. “It's the first part
of healing, in racism and segregation.
It does exist.”
Ted Gibson Speaks Out: ‘I Know It’s Because I’m Black…’ The hairstylist and his husband and business partner, Jason Backe, discuss racial injustice and the reopening of their "smart" salon, a "COVID-19-safe concept" that's arguably the beauty shop of the future. BY RYMA CHIKHOUNE
Ph
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Mic
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Ted Gibson and Jason Backe at Starring by Ted Gibson on June 6, 2020.
6
JUNE 12, 2020
NEWS FEED
RICHELIEU DENNISFounder & chair, Essence Ventures; @richelieudennis
How Did You Build Your Brand?
I’ve established a few businesses,
but the brand that I built almost
30 years ago — one that has been a
consistent part of all my businesses
— is Community Commerce. I’ve
always fundamentally believed that
economic equity is a human right and
that businesses have a responsibility to
meaningfully invest in the communities
where they operate with more than
occasional philanthropic efforts or
donations, but with meaningful
economic opportunities and access.
As much as business in general
has tried to separate itself from the
societal ills that undermine equality
and justice, my family and I have
taken a different approach, one that
recognizes the role that business can
and should play in society and that
also uses business as a vehicle to create
sustainable economic opportunities in
and for underserved communities.
I developed Community Commerce
as the purpose-driven way of doing
business that guided our vision, strategy
and operations. It resulted in Sundial’s
ability to not only build a thriving
business, but to also create sustainable
community and economic development
through entrepreneurship, education
and commerce.
What's different now?
The goals of Community Commerce
remain the same, but what’s different
now is that the model is more
than a concept and an aspiration.
It is proven. I’m encouraged to
now introduce new industries and
companies to this approach, because
we have demonstrated its impact
over the course of years.
Our community is largely aware of
the impact we made via this approach
in the beauty industry, and the
expectation is that we will do the same
via our businesses now — helping to
open economic access, opportunity
and equity in Black communities. And
we will. That includes not only the
businesses we own, but those we’ve
invested in. Thirty years ago, we had
an idea. Today, we have a solution.
That is the difference.
What needs to come next?
More companies need to adopt
a Community Commerce approach
to maximizing their societal impact and
business performance. The two are not
mutually exclusive. The responsibility
of business in society does not conflict
with its responsibility to shareholders
and other stakeholders. Never in this
generation has this issue been
more urgent.
The nation has a new awakening to
the inequalities suffered by Black people
in America that are rooted in years of
legislated, between-the-lines, corporate-
sanctioned, ignored and denied
affronts. These are not Black America’s
problems to solve — they are America’s
problems to solve, and that includes
its businesses. Any business that says
it can’t isn’t trying hard enough and
isn’t being truthful enough — and
Community Commerce proves it.
The Trailblazers Starting a successful company is a daunting challenge for anyone. For Black people, the hurdles are even greater. Here, Richelieu Dennis and Cashmere Nicole — leading founders in beauty — share how they built their companies — and the change that needs to happen moving forward so that more people can follow in their footsteps. BY JENNY B. FINE
Richelieu Dennis with Sundial's cofounders Nyema Tubman and Mary Dennis. Cashmere Nicole in the early days of her business.
CASHMERE NICOLE President, ceo and founder, Beauty Bakerie @beautybakeriemakeup
How did you build your brand?
I was just a girl with big dreams that
was also wildly in love with creating.
I built this brand in my downtime
brick by brick each day while
managing a full-time job and full-
time motherhood as a single parent.
It would be similar to playing a
game of Monopoly and going around
the board without instructions
unsure of where you're going and
where you'll end up, winning or
losing at each turn, but mostly losing.
What's different now?
I went from being an artist who
loved the idea of entrepreneurship
to being a ceo leading a team in a
matter of months.
There was so much I didn't know
or understand about myself that I
was forced to learn on that journey.
The artist in me felt that it was unfair
in some ways to be forced out of my
safe cocoon, yet the entrepreneur
in me was so ready and remains so
enthusiastic about the challenges
before me. I now have an amazing
community behind me and that
support is just powerfully surreal.
What challenges have you faced as
a Black entrepreneur that others
don’t have to contend with?
Seeing no other Black entrepreneurs
meant I had to come up with the
dream of my own volition. My white
professor was the one who informed
me that I’d have trouble getting calls
back for jobs due to my name, and I
often did. It took me months or years
at times to get calls.
Not having any income delayed
the dream. When it came to funding,
investors often assumed my brand
was only for Black people simply due
to the fact that I am Black. It gave me
the impression those investors weren’t
actually interested in what change my
brand could bring to the industry. This
made it difficult to get buy-in during
the times of tremendous growth and
opportunity; they couldn’t see beyond
my skin color.
I’ve had others assume that in
working alongside my brand that
they are superior to me due to their
skin color. Dealing with issues like
this in private is difficult. There’s no
best practice written for these types
of situations. Also, when the brand
style or creative is copied by a larger
brand, it is very damaging to the
economic advancement of all of the
people who work for the brand and
rely on it for their income.
What needs to come next?
I think we all believed that the mere
presence of opportunities somehow
equaled fair access. That's hardly the
case. What needs to come next needs to
begin at the top, in the “heart” of who's
at the top. The top of anything, that is
— the top of the family, of the business,
of the communities, of the country. So
with that, I implore myself and others
to lead, not just in answering that
question, but making it actionable.
V I R T U A L C O N F E R E N C E
we nessJ U L Y 1 5
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CHRISTOPHER GAVIGANCEO & Founder PRIMA
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ERIC RYAN Chief Growth Officer OLLY
TRINITY MOUZON WOFFORD CEO & Co-founder GOLDE
8
JUNE 12, 2020
WEEKLY ROUNDUP
MACY’S SEES A FEW
HOPEFUL SIGNS
¬ Macy’s stores reopening around the country are down 50
percent at the outset — but for chairman and chief executive officer
Jeff Gennette that is actually good news.Gennette told WWD
that stores were first anticipated to be
down 80 to 85 percent. “Business in the stores
is getting better — three to five points each week. At some point, they will be plateauing,” he said. “Customers love being
back in stores. They are happy to be out of
their houses and doing a familiar activity again.
There is optimism here.” As of June 1,
about 450 doors had reopened.
On Tuesday morning, Macy’s Inc. reported a loss of $652 million, or
$2.10 a share, for the first quarter ending May 2, compared to
profits of $137 million, or 44 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Net sales amounted
to $3.02 billion, a 45 percent decline.
But adding a dose of optimism, this week the retailer closed on
$4.5 billion in financing, to fund operations,
bring in fresh inventory, cover debt, resolve
payables and enable the department store to weather the pandemic.
— David Moin
¬ Customers have taken notice of how brands react to the killing of George Floyd, and plan to spend accordingly.
Dynata, worked with DeVries Global to gain insight over consumer sentiment, surveying 1,000 Americans online. More than half (58 percent) of Black Lives Matter supporters want to see brands “encourage people to vote”; 48 percent want them to look at their own company and diversify hires; 36
percent to make donations; 34 percent to share links/petitions, and 29 percent to reevaluate the diversity of product offerings.
Generation Z and Millennials often disagree with previous generations, but Black Lives Matter has created an almost unprecedented rift. Per the survey, younger consumers are 3.2 times more likely to suggest that the movement is going to change their purchase behaviors. — Lisa Lockwood
¬ In its most recent “SpendingPulse” report, Mastercard said retail sales were bolstered by an additional $53 billion in additional U.S. e-commerce sales in April and May.
Mastercard noted that consumer spending also “appears to be normalizing in a number of markets,” and said total retail sales in May “saw a marked improvement
from April (-5.6 percent ex-auto year over year compared with -14.1 percent, respectively) as states started the reopening process and stimulus funds continued to buoy consumer spending.”
In regard to e-commerce, Mastercard said online sales soared 92.7 percent in May, which the company said underscored “the broader shift to digital in how we work, live and shop.”
E-commerce has doubled in its share of total sales. “E-commerce in April and May made up 22 percent of all retail sales, up from 11 percent.” Mastercard said. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz
¬Simon Property Group has had second thoughts on its $3.6 billion on its
¬ Samira Nasr was named Bazaar’s new editor in chief — the first Black editor in chief in the history of the 153-year-old publication. She joins from Vanity Fair, where she has worked as executive fashion director since 2018.
Nasr is no stranger to Hearst Tower, having worked as Elle’s fashion director for five years. Prior to that, she was style director for InStyle and has also styled campaigns for fashion and beauty brands.
The appointment of Nasr,
will widely be viewed as a move to attract a younger audience to Bazaar.It also comes at a time when the police killing of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests have led many staffers to call out media companies for their record on diversity and treatment of people of color. Already, this has led to the ousting of Bon Appétit editor in chief Adam Rapoport and Refinery29 editor in chief Christene Barberich. — Kathryn Hopkins
Samira Nasr Leads Harper’s Bazaar
Consumers Respond To Brands’ BLM Efforts
Mastercard Sees Spending Growth
Simon Terminates Taubman Takeover
Protesters demonstrate against police brutality at the Governor's Residence, one week after George Floyd's death while under arrest, in St Paul, Minn.
Taubman Centers' Mall at Short HIlls in New Jersey.
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deal to buy mall competitor Taubman Centers Inc., saying it “exercised its contractual rights to terminate” the deal.
To help make that stick, the company also filed suit in Michigan requesting a declaration that “Taubman has suffered a Material Adverse Event under the merger agreement and has breached the covenants in the merger agreement governing the operation of Taubman’s business.”
Simon based its move on two grounds and said, under the terms of the deal, it specifically has “the right to terminate the transaction in the event that a pandemic disproportionately hurt Taubman.” — Evan Clark
9
JUNE 12, 2020
DEEP DIVE
BEAUTY COMPANIES ARE
pulling up the curtain on the makeup
of their staff.
The move to make diversity
head counts transparent has been
a widespread response to beauty
veteran and Uoma Beauty founder
and chief executive officer Sharon
Chuter’s “Pull Up for Change”
campaign. The social media initiative
asks companies to reveal how many
Black employees they have and
further specify how many Black
employees hold leadership positions.
Major beauty businesses such as Estée
Lauder, Shiseido, Revlon, Tatcha and
Beautycounter have revealed their
numbers, many of which are in the
single digits at the c-suite level.
“Some of the numbers are
downright appalling considering the
changing face of the target consumer,”
said Ella Gorgla, cofounder of
25 Black Women in Beauty, a
professional organization for Black
women in the beauty industry.
While Black consumers comprise a
growing part of the U.S. population and
sizable amount of total beauty spend —
$473 million on hair, and $573 million
on personal care, per Nielsen — Black
employees are underrepresented in the
beauty industry, across all levels of the
business.
But it’s not just representation of
Black employees that’s a problem, said
Gorgla — it’s treatment, too.
In the fall of 2019, Gorgla left her
job as an executive director at the
Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. to start 25BWB
after sensing a deep inequity for Black
women working in the beauty industry,
she said. Gorgla is a mechanical
engineer by trade and has worked
across several industries, including
consulting and financial services. The
beauty industry, she said, proved the
most uncomfortable environment as a
Black executive she experienced.
“There is a ceiling for Black women,”
said Gorgla. “I know my credentials are
above par and I do excellent work, but
why am I in the same role for five-plus
years, not getting promoted? I don’t see
any Black people being promoted
around me.”
There is now an unprecedented
sense of urgency among beauty’s power
players, sparked by Chuter’s campaign,
to reverse the part they have played in
perpetuating systemic racism. Beyond
revealing employee statistics, some
companies have outlined additional
steps they plan to take — some of
which start now.
The Estée Lauder Cos. reported this
week that it and its brands collectively
have a 12 percent Black workforce. At
Lauder, 4 percent of Black employees
are executive director level and above,
with 14 percent of Black employees at
executive officer level. The company
sent an internal memo across U.S.
teams this week committing to hire
more Black employees over the next
five years. The business also said it
would increase sourcing from Black-
owned ingredients and packaging
suppliers, and donate $10 million — up
from its previously reported $1 million
— to causes such as the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund.
L’Oréal Paris has responded
to public backlash from Munroe
Bergdorf, the Black transgender
model who was fired by the company
in 2017 after speaking out publicly
about racism at a white supremacy
demonstration in Charlottesville, Va.
L’Oréal Paris announced this week
that it has added Bergdorf to the board of L’Oréal Paris U.K. �
Historically White Beauty Industry Promises To Diversify Workforce The disproportionately white beauty industry is actively looking to hire more Black employees. For some, it’s the first time. BY ALLISON COLLINS, ALEXA TIETJEN AND ELLEN THOMAS
ILLUSTRATION BY D'ARA NAZARYAN
“It has to happen top-down. There
has to be a conscious effort,
specifically for the Black community.”
-sharon chuter, uoma beauty
10
JUNE 12, 2020
DEEP DIVE
In an e-mail to L’Oréal USA’s 12,000
employees this week, president
and ceo Stéphane Rinderknech
and chief diversity officer Angela
Guy announced the formation of
a Diversity and Inclusion Advisory
board. The board will be made
up of members from inside and
outside of the organization. It will
be responsible for developing a
“comprehensive, company-wide
action plan on anti-racism,” according
to a spokesperson.
Some of those initial plans include
investing in “community-based
organizations, nonprofits, civic
and cultural institutions” and the
creation of a training program “to
support employees with information,
research, resources, professional
development and education on topics
such as unconscious and implicit
bias, cultural sensitivity and
anti-racism.”
While some beauty businesses
are already implementing changes,
the majority have not yet outlined
the steps they will take to increase
diversity and anti-racism.
But sources said beauty businesses
big and small are looking — some
for the first time — to diversify their
ranks across all levels by actively
recruiting and retaining Black
employees and executives. To do
that, it will take a commitment to
fostering young Black talent and
filling high-ranking roles with Black
executives, outreach to universities
and professional organizations and a
top-down shift in culture.
“It’s always been a part of the
conversation. Has it been treated
with the level of commitment? No,”
said Lisa Marie Ringus, executive
vice president at recruiting firm 24-7.
“You can definitely sense in some of
those responses [from large beauty
companies] the tone and the tenure
of how they’re responding — it’s
almost like the establishment has
been shaken.”
“I feel like this moment will force
systemic change,” agreed Gorgla. “It
won’t pass [for] the brands that are
hoping it will pass. Folks are going
to keep the foot on the gas until they
start seeing changes — seeing a Black
woman head a major beauty brand.”
Shella Abe, co-head and partner at
True Search, an executive search firm
that works with beauty companies,
said change is inevitable.
“I’ve never seen anything like this
before, never,” Abe said. “Change is
coming and it’s being implemented
whether you’re forced to do it or not.”
“It’s an open and productive
discussion — it’s not like ‘check-the-
box, I sent Shella and her team an
e-mail about hiring Black candidates,’
— it’s like, ‘we want to be part of
this change, teach us how we can go
about doing that,’” Abe said. “I have
one [client] saying, ‘In light of recent
events, this is something we’ve been
thinking about, we’d like to see more
Black candidates in the pool that
you’d present. I’ve never gotten that
request before.”
Starting this summer, True Search
will begin working exclusively
with a start-up that centers around
diverse executive hiring. Abe said
the business is still in stealth mode.
Diverse candidates will be invited
to the platform, and companies and
private equity firms with jobs can
upload them there.
Search firms don’t have a way to
tick a diversity box in their systems to
identify candidates because of reverse
discrimination laws, but recruiters
are finding other ways to make
sure they put forward more Black
candidates for beauty positions.
For their part, companies should
be having discussions on multiple
levels — actively considering Black
candidates for open roles, and
building out pipelines of Black
candidates, Abe said.
Partnering with professional
organizations like 25 Black Women
in Beauty and recruiting from
historically Black colleges and
universities are places to start,
experts said. But companies also
need to make meaningful anti-racism
change inside their organizations.
That includes bias training across the
board, especially in recruitment.
Companies need to do internal
trainings and partnering with outside
organizations, said Ringus.
“The quick response is like, OK we
have to partner with 25 Black Women
in Beauty, but doing that alone without
the internal training development
and evaluating recruitment and how
[companies] promote within has to
be coupled together, it can’t just be
one without the other,” Ringus said.
“There’s not an organization out there
that the partnership alone is going to
solve the problem. You still have the
hiring problem, the evaluation, vetting
of employees, the bias there is
in recruitment.”
On the culture side, Abe
recommends companies tap a
diversity and inclusion consultant to
help institute changes and cut out
biases in the hiring process.
“That person will help you put in
the right programs to build a culture
that’s very open, collaborative, that
isn’t hostile because it’s so systematic.
If the ceo isn’t wired that way, you
need the consultant coming in with
that expertise to help implement
that change,” Abe said. “If you don’t
create an environment where your
employees feel safe and motivated
that’s when you basically fail. It starts
with a lot of communication from the
top — a ton.”
Neal Semel, cofounder of Diversity
Matters, an Ohio-based diversity and
inclusion training consultancy, said
changing a company’s culture is often
“a slow build.”
“Messaging of ‘this is for you’ needs
to be consistent,” Semel said. “Right
now, the competition for qualified
minority candidates in every industry
is tremendous. We’re seeing people
aren’t as interested in salaries as they
are in all of the other things that
contribute to a nice life, like finding
other people to socialize with and
having an upward trajectory in a
career path.
“You’ve got to think on all levels
of what things are keeping folks out
of your industry,” Semel continued.
“Very often it’s, no one’s been there
before. Nobody wants to be the first
in the door. Once you have people
within the organization, it gets
a lot easier.”
Representation in the c-suite is
an important factor in changing
company culture, said Chuter.
“It’s easier for a Black person to
feel comfortable in an organization
where [there is] a Black executive
who understands my unique issues,”
said Chuter. “It has to happen top-
down. There has to be a conscious
effort, specifically for the Black
community. A lot of people are
not understanding that the Black
situation in America is unique. There
was no other race in America that
America had a civil war for.”
Ringus said employing a “forward-
thinking, inclusive leader” is
“paramount” to whether companies
can move forward.
“The shift that has to take place
from vetting and recruitment and
organizational design, there has to be
that empathetic leadership in place in
order to really support the long-term
opportunity for really changing the
fabric of what inclusion means for a
company,” said Ringus. “If you’re not
an empathetic leader of your people
[with] an authentic leadership style
and willingness to hear the thoughts
of your employees, there’s going to be
some challenges,” Ringus said.
Abe said that some change could
potentially be seen within the next
six months, especially given faster
recruiting processes due to the
coronavirus and Zoom meetings. But
for big change, Ringus said it would
probably take years. “This shift in the
systemic behavior of how companies
operate is a very long-term ongoing
commitment. There is no short fix
because this has gone on for such a
long time,” Ringus said.
Having a diverse talent base can
make for an easier workflow, too.
Lela Coffey, vice president, hair care
portfolio and multicultural beauty,
P&G North America, underscored the
importance of having an employee base
that reflects the consumer.
“We’ve got to be able to have
depth of diversity in the businesses
if we’re going to serve this diverse
consumer. That’s not only the people
that are marketing the product, I'm
talking about the people that are
designing the products,” Coffey said.
“For our multicultural hair portfolio
— [Pantene] Gold Series, My Black
Is Beautiful, [Head & Shoulders]
Royal Oils — the people who are
designing those products, the
scientists, the Ph.D.s behind those
are Black women with a multitude of
hair types. We don’t just look at the
diversity on the marketing team, but
all through the team — and diversity
of our agency partners.”
Outsourced talent is an equal part
of P&G’s overall approach to diversity.
The company makes an active effort
to ensure the creative agencies with
which it works are diverse, said
Coffey, vice president, hair care
portfolio and multicultural beauty,
P&G North America.
That involves “making sure
we’re using diverse people in front
of the cameras as well as behind
the cameras.”
“For my multicultural brands, we
are using agencies that are Black-
owned or Black-led to make sure we
are connecting with those partners
in the way that we should be and
making sure we’re sensing where the
consumer is going,” Coffey said.
Diversity is certainly needed in
the c-suite to drive change, but
change needs to happen beyond the
c-suite level, said Gorgla, adding
that creative and communication
departments across the industry are
severely lacking in Black talent. The
25BWB job board shows director, vice
president and senior level roles across
businesses including Coty, Revlon,
Ulta Beauty, Glossier, Amazon, Maesa,
Hatch Beauty and Versed.
“Functional groups are key,” said
Gorgla. “We need more writers, more
creative — it’s so odd for beauty,
with these forward-facing campaigns
[featuring Black women] to not have
Black people in marketing.” ■
1. The beauty industry is more aware of systemic racism than ever before, but sti l l lacks meaningful representation. 2. Depth of diversity, from the c-suite through to the entire organization, is needed to create a truly meaningful cultural transformation. 3. Short-term fixes won't be enough. Companies wil l need to commit to long-term solutions, and be held accountable if change doesn't continue to happen.
Key Takeaways
11
JUNE 12, 2020
DEEP DIVE
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SEVERAL WEEKS INTO peaceful
protests after the police killing of
George Floyd, some beauty companies
are starting to outline change, with
plans to hire more Black employees
and stock more Black-owned brands.
On Wednesday, Sephora became
the first major retailer to sign on
to Brother Vellies founder Aurora
James’ 15 Percent Pledge, which asks
major corporations to dedicate 15
percent of shelf space to majority
Black-owned businesses.
The business has committed to all
three stages of the pledge, including
taking stock of the current percentage
of shelf space and contracts dedicated
to Black-owned businesses, taking
ownership of findings, blind spots
and disparities, and identifying
concrete next steps, and taking action
to publish and execute a plan to grow
the share of Black-owned businesses
to at least 15 percent.
Sephora said it will also help connect
Black-owned brands to the venture
capital community and help launch
and develop Black-owned businesses.
Accelerate, Sephora's internal
incubation program dedicated to
female founders, will focus exclusively
on women of color next year.
“We were inspired to make the 15
Percent Pledge because we believe it’s
the right thing to do, for our clients,
our industry and for our community,”
said Artemis Patrick, executive vice
president and chief merchandising
officer at Sephora in a statement.
“Ultimately, this commitment
is about more than the prestige
products on our shelves, it starts with
a long-term plan diversifying our
supply chain and building a system
that creates a better platform for
Black-owned brands to grow, while
ensuring Black voices help shape our
industry. We recognize we can do
better and this pledge builds on our
ongoing work to use our resources
to drive meaningful and long-term
change for Sephora and our industry.
Some don’t see Sephora’s actions as
enough — beauty retailer The Brown
Beauty Co-op issued a statement
asking for Sephora to complete its
#PullUpforChange submission by
releasing the number of Black people
in senior positions at the company.
Sephora’s contribution gave figures for
the U.S., where 14 percent of workers
are Black or African American, and
for leadership in stores distribution
and warehouses, where 6 percent
of employees are Black or African
American, but didn’t disclose the
number of Black employees in
corporate senior leadership. The
Brown Beauty Co-op, a retailer
centered on women of color, also
asked for Sephora to address in-store
practices to ensure fair treatment of
Black and Brown shoppers.
Over at the Estée Lauder Cos.,
executives committed to hiring more
Black employees across all levels of the
business, aiming to reach parity with
the U.S. population within the next
five years. The company also upped
its donations to Black community
causes after employees complained
about Ronald Lauder, son of Estée
and member of the company's board,
donating $1.75 million to President
Donald Trump while the company had
only pledged $1 million to Black causes.
At L’Oréal, Black trans model
Munroe Bergdrof has been added to
the diversity and inclusion advisory
board of L’Oréal Paris UK after being
fired in 2017 after speaking out against
racism following a white supremacist
rally in Charlottesville, Va.
And at Shiseido, offices will be
closed to observe Juneteenth —
June 19, the date that marks the
anniversary of the emancipation
of millions of enslaved people in
America — this year and all years in
the future.“All U.S. employees will be
given this day off to reflect not only
on the current social movement and
the historical significance of the date,
but on what we can all do to educate
ourselves and initiate meaningful,
necessary conversations,” wrote
Shiseido Americas chief executive
officer Marc Rey in an internal memo.
Companies Take Action In addition to pledging to diversify their workforce, some companies committed to broader initiatives, too. BY ALLISON COLLINS
12 OF THE LARGEST BEAUTY MANUFACTURERS
"PULL UP"In the wake of the Black
Lives Matter protests following the killing of
George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Uoma Beauty
founder Sharon Chuter's created the "Pull Up or Shut Up" campaign, challenging
beauty companies to disclose the number of Black people employed
and in leadership positions. As of Tuesday afternoon,
12 of Beauty Inc's Top 100 manufacturers have participated, and almost 80 companies. Here, see the percentages of Black employees provided by
participants. For the full list, see WWD.com.
BY JAMES MANSO
“We were inspired to make the 15 Percent Pledge
because we believe it’s the
right thing to do, for our clients, our
industry and for our community.”
-artemis patrick, sephora
Inside Sephora on 34th Street.
l'oréal usa: 9% of employees;
7% of corporate employees,
8% of executives.
unilever usa: 8% of employees; 17% of leadership.
the estée lauder cos.
12% of employees; 3% of executive directors
and above; 14% of executive officers are Black people.
procter & gamble usa: 13% of senior management.
shiseido usa: 10% of employees;
5% of professional population, manager and above.
revlon usa: 27% of employees;
5% of directors (and above).
lush cosmetics north america:
"limited" employees; 0 leadership.
morphe: 3% of employees.
anastasia beverly hills:
6% of employees and leadership.
e.l.f.: 7% of employees; 14% of
executive leadership.
huda beauty: 13% of employees.
kylie cosmetics: 13% of employees; 0% of leadership.
I S S U E 0 6 . 2 2 / C LOS E 0 6 .16MATE RIALS 0 6 .18
This June, WWD will honor Pride Month with a special issue centered around the
LGBTQ community and the celebration of all human rights. WWD will delve deep into
the history of NYC Pride, the celebration’s global impact on the fashion, beauty and
retail communities and how COVID-19 is affecting this year’s festivities.
PRIDEC E L E B R A T E S
MONTH
OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDE:
CUSTOM WWD STUDIOS FEATURE
BRAND AD ALIGNMENT
SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT STEPHANIE SIEGEL, VP, SALES & MARKETING AT [email protected]
13
JUNE 12, 2020
EYE CANDY
In the Kitchen With Nordstrom’s Gemma LionelloLionello's next-level Sunday night dinners are inspired by her childhood outside of Naples. BY JENNY B. FINE
SAY YOU WERE SCROLLING on Gemma Lionello’s Instagram feed and you didn’t know that she is the executive vice president and general merchandise manager for accessories and beauty at Nordstrom — you wouldn’t be remiss in thinking you’d stumbled upon the social media presence of a top chef. The account, @glionello, is filled with mouthwatering pictures of pollo arrosto con patate and tagliata di filetto e arugula and Lionello’s personal favorite, her signature ragu.
Lionello grew up in Fratta Minore, a small town about
12 miles outside of Naples, and there is nothing she
relishes more than re-creating the food of her youth.
“My mother was a fantastic cook and I was always her
assistant,” said Lionello. “After she passed away and I
moved to the U.S., cooking made me feel close to her.
Food is love for us Italians.”
During the quarantine, Lionello has been making
Sunday feasts for her son and husband (who is on weekly
dish duty), cooking both old family recipes as well as
those she’s inspired by from her collection of cookbooks.
“I have so many,” she says. “I love leafing through them in
the morning and deciding on what I’m going to make that
day.” Her current favorites are The Silver Spoon’s “Naples
and the Amalfi Coast,” “Amalfi Coast Recipes” by Amanda
Tabberer and “Naples at Table” by Arthur Schwartz.
(Notice a theme here?)
But her go-to is her mother’s ragu. Lionello happily
shares the secret — add water — that gives the sauce
what she calls “a freshness rather than the density of
some sauces” and she makes it year-round. “As soon as
I make it, it brings me back to Italy and makes me think
of my childhood,” she said. “It’s not just good food, but
good memories.”
GEMMA LIONELLO’S SIGNATURE RAGU: Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion (very thinly sliced, and then chopped)
10 Italian sausages, preferably mild (or 1 lb. of ground beef)
1/2 cup red or white wine
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste, (no seasoning)
2 (29 oz.) cans tomato sauce, (no seasoning)
7 ¼ cups water
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1) Put the oil in a large pan, add the onion and lightly sauté on medium heat.
2) Add the sausage and brown on both sides, being careful not to burn the onions.
3) Add the wine and cook with the sausage until most has evaporated.
4) Add the tomato paste and stir until it’s mixed with the sausage.
5) Add the tomato sauce.
6) Fill each empty tomato sauce can with water and add to the sauce.
7) Add salt and pepper.
8) Stir and bring to a soft boil, then bring to the lowest heat so that the sauce barely bubbles; simmer for at least three hours. Stir often. Cook until the sauce reaches a good consistency, not too thick and not too dark. This sauce is a great base for lasagne, chicken or eggplant armigiana, baked pasta, cannelloni, ravioli etc. I usually toss pasta with two tablespoons of butter or ricotta in addition to the sauce.
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