Future proofing the beauty industry (lecture)
Is the world better off because the beauty industry exists?
This is lecture no.2/3 which really stuck with me from the Future Face of Beauty series of lectures at London College of Fashion. This lecture was delivered by Professor Phillippa Diedrichs and she unpacked her research working in leading beauty brands like Dove. I love how she backed everything up with statistics and posed thought provoking questions to the audience to start questions. Here are my notes:
Beauty can inspire and uplift or marginalise
Does beauty evoke confidence or conditional self worth
Confidence becomes a commodity that is conditionally based on a product
Only confident when makeup is on?
Who defines beauty?
Beauty has become defined by systems, not our individual choices
Is the intent of your product to mask imperfections - are you part of the problem in the beauty industry
Look younger or thinner
2/3 women still think beauty companies have significant progress to make in becoming truly inclusive - Dove 2024 report
Beauty industry and media are the biggest source of pressure that affects their body image
6/10 girls aged 11-12 are consumed by negative thoughts about how they look - Girl Guiding UK 2024
You don’t graduate or grow out of body image issues
44% of adults deal with body image issues according to Lululemon report
There are penalties and resulting costs to women of colour who struggle with hair positivity
Fat phobia is described as wellness and ageism disguised as tech innovation (using filters)
Reclaim beauty as innovation, expression and creativity
Selling beauty products has often been based around aspirational feelings
There are very real penalties if you remove the beauty standards
Inclusive beauty centers purpose - not based on profit or short terms ROI, focus on long term visionary thinking
Quiet fear: what happens when people stop striving for aspirational beauty, can commercial success coexist with inclusive beauty
People prefer to work in places driven by purpose so they can attach meaning to their work
You need to have a social purpose but also know that your consumer knows about it because it will make them more likely to try it out
75% of consumers buy brands based on their social purpose
Gen Z will account to $33 trillion of the economy and a ¼ of the population
Ethical, purpose, meaning, individuality is all important to Gen Z
Stop fixing bodies and start fixing the world instead - Eva Ensler
5 P’s of purpose - McKinsey 2021
When you evaluate, you might find that some of your products don’t need to exist or language that you use shouldn’t continue
Whitening products
Anti ageing language
Rare beauty impact fund
Read their social impact report
Centre equity at the heart of design
Liberatory Design deck of cards to help centre equity
Beytna design.com
Partnerships are important to deviate from the scarcity mindset that there isn’t enough to go around
