Takeaways from the VIP Beauty Breakfast: 2017 s Most Innovative Women Leaders in Beauty, Retail, Technology and Finance 1) On September 13, the FGRT team attended the VIP Beauty Breakfast at Story, a retail concept store in New York. The event honored female leaders in the beauty, retail, technology and finance industries, and featured Nancy Berger, Publisher, Marie Claire; Luisa Delgado, CEO, Safilo; and Eva Scrivo, author and beauty expert. The women shared their stories, industry experience and insights. 2) Berger shared that Marie Claire is launching a next-generation beauty, wellness and technology tool concept shop called The Next Big Thing on September 23 in New York City. 3) Scrivo noted that enhancing clients beauty with hair and makeup styles that make them feel their best requires connecting on a personal level. 4) Delgado said that fashion and beauty brands are unique culturally; what is considered beautiful differs from culture to culture, but brands should embrace their individuality. On September 13, the FGRT team attended the VIP Beauty Breakfast, which celebrated 2017 s most innovative women leaders in beauty, retail, technology and finance. Held at the Story concept store in New York City, the event was hosted by Berns Communications Group and honored 57 women leaders, including Nancy Berger, Publisher of Marie Claire; Luisa Delgado, CEO of Safilo; and Eva Scrivo, author and beauty expert. The three women shared their stories, industry experience and insights. The event began with networking and browsing at Story, a retail concept store in Manhattan that features more than 200 brands and more than 2,000 carefully curated items. 1
Insights from Story Founder Rachel Shechtman The breakfast kicked off with event host Stacy Berns of Berns Communications Group welcoming everyone and introducing Story s founder, Rachel Shechtman, who shared her inspiration for Story, a retail concept that takes the point of view of a magazine and changes like a gallery. Every four to eight weeks, Story reinvents itself, changing everything from the design to the merchandise, with the goal of highlighting a new theme, trend or issue. The current theme is Beauty, and the store has teamed up with Coty to turn the space into a place of self-discovery packed with products, activities and events that inspire self-expression. Shechtman said that she wanted the store to be interactive and fun, and within the store, customers can virtually try on looks with the YouCam Makeup augmented-reality magic mirror to visualize how different makeup colors will look on their lips, eyes and face. The store also features the Array Portrait Studio, where customers can pose in front of Instagram-worthy backdrops. The store displays are carefully curated and include a men s grooming station, a holistic beauty care station and even a kids beauty station with children s nail polish. Luisa Delgado, CEO, Safilo, Stacy Berns, Founder, Berns Communications Group, Rachel Shechtman, Founder, Story. 1. Marie Claire Is Launching a Next-Gen Beauty and Wellness Concept Shop Event participants posing at the Array Portrait Studio. Marie Claire Publisher and honoree Nancy Berger announced that her company is launching an experience concept shop called The Next Big Thing on Saturday, September 23, in New York City. Berger described the shop as a place to discover the ultimate fashion, beauty, wellness and tech tools to power your next-gen life. The pop-up store will run through October 12, and is sponsored by MasterCard, b8ta, 2
Clarins, Neiman Marcus and Oak Labs. Although Berger did not provide many details, she shared that the store will use magic mirror technology and will be a gathering place, a town hall, where women will want to be together as a community and shop together. Nancy Berger, Publisher, Marie Claire; Stacy Berns, Founder Berns Communications Group, Nancy McKay, CEO of Nest Fragrances, (right photo) Eva Scrivo, Author and Beauty Expert 2. Enhancing Clients Hairstyles and Makeup Requires a Deep Personal Connection Eva Scrivo, a third-generation hairdresser, shared her personal story and said that she considers it an honor to work with her hands. She said that she was always using her hands, designing and creating, as she grew up, which naturally led to her career as a stylist. Scrivo said a hairstylist has to be part Svengali and part psychic in order to understand and connect with each client to see how the client sees herself. The stylist must also understand the client s best decade, discover who she wants to be, determine who her best self is, and capture and bring that beauty out. Scrivo owns two salons in New York City, and has worked with thousands of women. She said the best part of her career was when she met Martha Stewart and then traveled with her for 15 years, producing beauty segments on The Martha Stewart Show. Scrivo also had her own radio talk show at one point, and she learned to connect with women and what they wanted through that radio show. She discovered that most women want to know the same things about hair color, skin, how to look younger and how to be their best self. These insights led her to write a book, Eva Scrivo on Beauty: The Tools, Techniques, and Insider Knowledge Every Woman Needs to Be Her Most Beautiful, Confident Self. 3
3. Fashion and Beauty Brands Are Unique Culturally Luisa Delgado, CEO of Safilo, an Italian company that designs, produces and distributes prescription frames, sunglasses and sports eyewear under its own brands and 22 licensed brands, spoke to attendees about eyeglasses, image and beauty. First, she highlighted that glasses are complicated because they project one s mood and the message one wants to give. Safilo found that many of its customers, particularly Asian men, wear glasses even when they do not need them in order to portray an intellectual vibe. In terms of beauty and glasses, opinions about what is beautiful differ by culture. Delgado spoke about the differing cultural norms of beauty, but said that beauty is what makes the soul work and gives an extra purpose to life. Beauty gives a brand its identity, she said, but beauty is influenced by cultural context. She said that in Italy, for example, more complicated things are seen as beautiful because they are deemed more intelligent due to the craftsmanship that went into them, whereas in Stockholm, lines that are clean and simple are considered beautiful. Luisa Delgado, CEO, Safilo. For brands, Delgado emphasized that it is important to distill the elements of beauty into a final brand interpretation that is consistent and coherent in order to make sure the brand is authentic and genuine. She said that with eyewear, the goal is to take a brand s personality and its iconic elements, then go beneath the surface and translate those things into a deep sense of beauty in an authentic way. Highlighting her own Fendi eyeglasses, she said that the brand identity had been succinctly captured by Fendi s iconic style, and she said that anyone who loves Fendi would not confuse the brand s glasses with those of Dior, as the two brands identities distinctly differ. 4
Deborah Weinswig, CPA Managing Director FGRT New York: 917.655.6790 Hong Kong: 852.6119.1779 China: 86.186.1420.3016 deborahweinswig@fung1937.com Erin Schmidt Research Associate Hong Kong: 2nd Floor, Hong Kong Spinners Industrial Building Phase 1&2 800 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon Hong Kong Tel: 852 2300 4406 London: 242-246 Marylebone Road London, NW1 6JQ United Kingdom Tel: 44 (0)20 7616 8988 New York: 1359 Broadway, 18th Floor New York, NY 10018 Tel: 646 839 7017 FungGlobalRetailTech.com 5