From 2018 / 2019:
Beauty from head to toe!
This collection saw the introduction of our foot print into the beauty, cosmetic, and hair industry. Therefore expanding our company and allowing us to decide what’s beauty.
I knew when I started the brand, we would need to figure out hair and make up – who’s going to handle that for us!
It was very clear from the start, we needed to be more independent around that side of the business. Think about it, models need hair and makeup products in order to walk the runway or execute an ad-campaign therefore we decided to launch our own products instead of waiting.
It wasn’t easy, I had to now learn attributes for every product you can think of. I had to sample every shampoo, styling cream, to conditioners out there. Plus, I don’t wear makeup (I mean, I’ll probably wear a bronzer or chapstick or nail color but nothing compared to the magnitude of products out there), but I wanted to see and feel all the makeup that we were thinking about using for the line. Also learn what people like to what they look for when selecting beauty products.
Every part of the beauty business, to me is amazing from packaging design, product types, to the very product ingredients. Our beauty collection concept started out as a simple thing yet as you can imagine it’s a little more complex because not only do you have to develop your own line but you also have to defend it plus make sure it’s protected. All something that I took very seriously and wanted to make sure before we released the line, everything was perfect.
As I continued to work with suppliers, we were able to first develop our hair care system which is a wash-and-go line that includes cleansing products, conditioning products, to styling products. The line is amazing, I use it every day and I love it. It was the first independent product that we put out non-garment related and it really took us into the beauty industry nonstop.
Following hair products, we also introduced a how-to-guide for our hair care system in the form of a coffee table book which I thought was another way to elevate what we were doing yet that inadvertently took us into the publishing industry which makes me an author 🙂
Moreover, this new initiative took us into advertising at a high-level, we were now producing flyers, look books, and campaign advertisements for not just garments but for a different sector of the retail landscape which gave us a different audience to talk too. Back then that was important.
Also, I thought this decision was a very powerful move and I’m glad we took the move….it’s something that has kept us afloat all these years of challenging environments. Plus we have hair products (and now make up products) that we can use for our productions; it’s very important as an independent brand to know where to go to get the products you need to support your inspiration/collection. I always share with founders, to keep this concept in mind as you’re starting out…
As you can see this was a turning point into how things were going but again I think the models speaks for themselves. Look how amazing they look. And the photography was done at a very high-level plus the photographer kept me involved throughout the process which in returned taught me how to shoot campaigns…I think you could probably guess by now who runs photography around here 🙂
From a collection standpoint, we kept it simple, I wanted to really pick up tailoring but showcase the looks in all black because we were at that point where we needed to make a move!
Cheers to everyone involved in this production! You guys really came through when I needed you the most! I’m glad we made friends and I’m looking forward to more work with you guys in a future. I want the world to see what I see in you!
Have a look around you will enjoy what you see…
Dex
– Complete credits pending