Nature’s RemedyThis winter, Aveda and Ojon are aiming to provide natural solutions for hair issues that have traditionally required heavy chemicals: Aveda, with its Invati line for thinning hair, and Ojon, with Super Sleek, a collection designed to deliver smooth hair without chemicals like formaldehyde. Both collections bow next month. For more, see page 6.

Kors Goes Ka-ChinG

Designer’s Shares LeapOn Wall Street Debut

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2011 ■ $3.00 ■ WoMEn’s WEAR DAIlY

WWD

PHOTO BY THOmAS IAnnAccOne

in WWD ToDaY

Ralph Lauren names Lalonde PAGE 2NEWS: Ralph Lauren Corp. named former LVMH executive Daniel Lalonde head of its international operations. Beauty Sales Strong for Holiday PAGE 6BEAUTY: While stores’ performance has been patchy, retailers expect to see growth in their beauty sales at holiday, driven by celebrity fragrances. Proenza Schouler Said Opening Store PAGE 12FASHION SCOOP: The designers are said to be eyeing a spot on Madison Avenue for their first freestanding store.

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“I’M FEElIng gREAt,” said an exuberant, and newly flush Michael kors, after ring-ing the opening bell of the new York stock Exchange thursday morning.

Flanked by partners silas Chou and lawrence stroll, chief executive officer John Idol and chief financial officer and chief op-erating officer Joseph Parsons, kors stood beaming on the podium, looking at the crowd below. the Michael kors Holdings ltd. part-ners hugged, high-fived each other, and then called up other members of the staff, as well as kors’ mother, Joan, to the podium to wave to the crowd. After a few minutes, the stock, listed under koRs, shot up to $25, and the day’s trading began. the stock, which traded between $23.51 and $25.23 throughout the day, closed thursday at $24.20, up from its IPo price of $20. some 42.3 million shares

were traded. given the more than 190 million shares outstanding, the closing price left kors with a market capitalization of $3.82 billion.

After the stock was priced, a press-wary Idol whisked kors and the team away, saying securities and Exchange Commission rules prevented them from talking.

It’s been quite a journey for kors, who started his business 30 years ago. After sink-ing into bankruptcy in the early nineties, kors emerged and sold the business to Chou and stroll in 2003 for a reported $100 million. the Hong kong-based company grew rapidly, setting the stage for the IPo by raising money from private investors this summer. the num-ber of shares sold in this week’s offering was 47.2 million, meaning the IPo will raise $944 million. the offering, which was oversub-scribed 10 times, was underwritten by Morgan stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., goldman, sachs & Co. and others.

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WWD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 20116

Aveda’s Natural Answer to Hair Loss

Living Proof Names Beraud CEO

beautyBy Julie NaughtoN

aveda is hopiNg to give the burgeoning thinning hair market a natural boost with its newest hair care line, invati.

said to be 97 percent natural, the four-stock-keeping-unit lineup is said to reduce hair loss by up to 33 percent.

as more than 80 percent of the brand’s customers come to aveda via hair care and the category accounts for more than 60 percent of the brand’s overall business, the brand has been focusing its research and develop-ment efforts on innovative hair care, said dominique Conseil, global brand presi-dent of aveda. “We’ve been evolving from smell-good, feel-good to problem-solv-ing products addressing key concerns.” those catego-ries include Color Conserve, which addresses colored hair; damage Remedy, intended to do repair damaged hair, and Be Curly, designed to make curls manageable.

addressing hair loss was a logical addition, said Conseil. “thinning hair is a big global concern, and consumers are ex-pressing a strong preference for natural products,” he noted.

the invati line — named for the sanskrit word for invigorate — is powered by the proprie-tary densiplex Complex, which combines ayurvedic herbs with turmeric and ginseng, said to en-ergize and rehabilitate the scalp around the hair follicles when massaged in. aveda is sourcing the in-gredient with Nisarga (sanskrit for nature), an indian company which organically grows ayurvedic herbs while supporting local com-munities.

each product in the regime also contains targeted ingredients designed to support the densiplex Complex benefits. exfoliating shampoo, $24 for 200 ml., is intended to cleanse, exfoliate and renew the scalp with wintergreen-derived salicylic acid; doing so

removes sebum and prod-uct residue that can clog pores, noted Marianne Knutson, vice president of global marketing for aveda. thickening Conditioner, $24 for 200 ml., contains arginine, an amino acid de-rived from sugar beets and soy protein and which is said to penetrate the hair shaft to thicken it, as well as or-ganic kukui nut oil for shine. scalp Revitalizer, $60 for 150 ml., is an infusion of turmeric and ginseng designed to be massaged into the scalp twice daily. healthy hair daily is a herbal supplement said to support healthy hair, and is a blend of ayurvedic herbs and botanical extracts, including turmeric and gotu kola, plus antioxidants amla and green tea extract. intended to be taken twice daily after meals, the supplement retails for $55 for 60 tablets.

While executives declined to discuss sales projections, in-dustry sources estimated that invati could do $50 million at retail globally in its first year on counter. about 70 percent of that is expected to be done in the u.s., where aveda is currently in about 5,000 salons and has 109 of its own retail doors.

National advertising is slat-ed to break in February fash-ion, beauty and lifestyle maga-

zines, said Knutson. While she and Conseil declined comment, industry sources estimated that aveda would spend between $5 million and $7 million on advertising and promotion in the line’s first year.

NeW YoRK — Beauty company living proof has named Jill Beraud chief executive officer, effective Jan. 9. Most recently, Beraud was president of starbucks/lipton Joint ventures and global chief marketing officer of pepsiCo. Beraud has also served as chief marketing of-ficer of victoria’s secret and executive vice president of marketing for limited Brands inc.’s broader portfolio of specialty brands, including Bath & Body Works, C.o. Bigelow, express, henri Bendel and limited stores. Beraud began her career at procter & gamble.

the ceo position was vacated in late 2010 when Rob Robillard left the company to pur-sue other interests. a yearlong search for a new ceo had been under way with Jon Flint, the chairman and co-founder of living proof — and founding partner of polaris venture partners — as the interim ceo for the past year.

in addition to Beraud, living proof has named grace Ray chief marketing officer. Ray was most recently vice president of global Marketing for smashbox Cosmetics. several additions have been made to living proof ’s board, too, including edgar o. huber, ceo and president of land’s end, and Betsy olum, hsN’s general manager of Beauty and Merchandising strategy.

living proof, which makes and markets hair care products and uses formulas based on technology used in biotech and drug de-livery companies from leading universities, such as Mit, recently closed a new round of funding, raising $13 million from the pohlad

group and polaris venture partners at the end of November. the funding caps off a year where $29 million was raised in total — $16 million in the first half, from piper Jaffray and polaris venture partners. Funds are ear-marked for research and development and marketing to further build the global brand.

living proof was founded in 2005 but brought its first products — No Frizz — to sephora and QvC in early 2009. the brand is carried in sephora, Macy’s impulse Beauty, Nordstrom and on nordstrom.com and QvC and is best known for its polyfluoroester technology.

— AndreA nAgel

With its NeW super sleek line, ojon is aiming to bring a natural version of a hair straightening sys-tem to the market in mid-January.

“one of our recent focuses has been on how we can, as a brand, be high-tech and also natural,” said Jane lauder, global president and general manager of origins and ojon. “the straightening category has experienced a huge amount of growth, and there has been wide-spread concern about chemicals in straightening treatments — which made this a natural focus for us.”

the collection includes the sulfate-free, ion-rich smoothing shampoo, $24 for 8.5 oz.; smoothing Conditioner, $25 for 8.5 oz., and two versions of hair straightening treatment, each $39 for 2 oz.: one for loose to wavy hair and a second for medium to tight-er-textured hair.

the line is powered by the proprietary super sleek straightening Complex, and each product is formulated to match the 5.5 ph balance of hair and skin, noted geoffrey hawkins, vice president of research and development for ojon. “the com-plex is designed to deliver three straightening actions simultane-ously,” said hawkins. “a gentle reshaping agent relaxes and smooths out the curved structure of hair’s keratin bonds, making them supple and flexible. then our proprietary blend — includ-ing plant keratin derived from wheat, soy and corn proteins and azurite — acts like a liquid flat iron to realign natural kera-tin bonds and seal in straight-ness. it also fills in rough spots on the cuticle that can make hair appear frizzy, coarse and unmanageable. Finally, this treatment acts as a conduit for heat transfer from blow dryers and flat irons to instantly loosen curls.” each treatment is designed to keep hair straight and manageable for 30 shampoos, and consumers can wash and condition hair when a 24-hour time period has elapsed. it is also safe to use on relaxed hair.

the brand has applied for five patents related to the line, hawkins added.

the at-home regimen takes about an hour and a half from start to fin-ish and doesn’t require gloves or a

mask, noted hawkins. it’s also free of formaldehyde, lye and cysteine. like all ojon products, it contains the brand’s ojon oil, which is said to penetrate deep within the hair shaft to repair and seal the cuticle, as well as resist future damage.

While executives declined com-ment on projected sales, industry sources estimated the line could do about $6 million at retail in its first year on counter.

the line will bow first in 450 ulta doors in January before rolling out to the brand’s remaining distribu-tion in the fall. ojon is carried in about 1,200 doors in North america, including ulta and sephora, as well as on QvC, qvc.com and ojon.com.

the regimen will be promoted via ojon.com, Facebook, direct mail and collateral and during on-air presentations at QvC.

— J.n.

L’Oréal Closes Pacific Bioscience Sale

Getting Straight With OjonAn Invati item.

Part of Ojon’s Super Sleek line.

Jill Beraud

shoRtlY aFteR l’oréal closed the deal to buy pacific Bioscience laboratories inc. — the maker of the hot-selling Clarisonic beauty de-vices— Carol hamilton, president of the luxe division of l’oréal usa, was hinting thursday at some ad-mittedly ambitious expansion plans for the newly acquired business.

Noting that she views Clarisonic as a skin care brand since it “trans-forms the skin,” hamilton said it has a lot of potential in the u.s. her ultimate goal is to put one of the de-vices in “every woman’s hand and every man’s hand.”

Clarisonic, which generated $105 million in net sales last year, is now distributed through doctor’s offices, spas, prestige retail stores, tv shop-ping channels and over the internet in the u.s., u.K., australia, Mexico, Canada and the Far east. l’oréal will be picking distributors to ex-

pand into prestige venues, either department stores or perfumeries.

pacific Bioscience will be part of the luxe division with its head-quarters remaining in Redmond, Wash, and david giuliani, chief executive officer and co-founder of the newly acquired company will report to hamilton. she noted that l’oréal will build a “world center of excellence” in Redmond. “We want a partnership rather than a merg-er,” she said.

When asked what possibilities the acquisition will open, giuliani said, “l’oréal is in 135 countries, which is 130 more than we are.” he also noted that Clarisonic is strong on sonic technology while l’oréal is expert at skin care bio-science and chemistry. the union will create a synergy of disciplines that neither side was capable of before.

— P.B.

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