Who's on the Cohorted #FemaleFounders Beauty Box Sleeve?
This month, in honour of International Womens Day, Cohorted are championing leading #FemaleFounders in the industry. Throughout the month of March, we are bringing you exclusive content from the leading ladies themselves.
It can’t be ignored that some of the most successful founders are women, despite past society creating a stigma around females who curated their own empires. Within business, it’s thanks to some amazing ladies who shaped the business landscape for the modern era. At Cohorted, we set out to shed a light on these incredible women, dedicating an entire luxe beauty box to our favourite female founders; from the fourth generation to the modern-day.
Rhianna, Fenty Beauty & Fenty Skin
Robyn Rihanna Fenty is most recognised as a Barbadian singer and fashion icon, who has quite literally taken over the beauty world. Rihanna has challenged the status quo and reworked the beauty dynamic through experimentation, launching her own brands; Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin in 2017. Rihanna’s aim to create a broad inclusivity across skin tones and gender has proven successful to consumers and the Cohorted team alike. Here at Cohorted, we couldn’t be more of a fan of Rhi Rhi’s passion for inclusivity across the beauty industry.
Kylie Jenner, Kylie Cosmetics & Kylie Skin
At 21, Kylie Jenner followed in the footsteps of her entrepreneurial Kardashian sisters and became the youngest self-made billionaire to date. Kylie’s brand, Kylie Cosmetics, was established in 2015 and quickly took the beauty world by storm due to her iconic and most popular product – the Kylie Lip Kit. Leading on from the success of Kylie Cosmetics, Kylie Skin was born. Because we all know a flawless make-up look starts with glowing skin.
Sophia Amoroso, Nasty Gal
Named one of the ‘richest self-made women in the world’ by Forbes in 2016, Sophia Amoroso has taken the fashion industry by storm with her brand Nasty Gal. After launching as an eBay store in 2006, only six years later, Nasty Gal was named the ‘Fastest Growing Retailer’ by INC Magazine. Sophia is living proof that determination, dedication and passion pays off when cultivating your own brand.
Conna Walker, House of CB and Mistress Rocks
27-year-old businesswoman Conna launched Mistress Rocks and House of CB brands, first establishing themselves with the lust-worthy bandage dress. After receiving a loan from her father, Conna built her brand and a loyal customer base including celebrities such as Queen Bey, the Kardashians, Lady Gaga, Maya Jama, Rihanna and more. Walker went on to build this fashion empire, where her clothes are now sold over 40 different retail locations worldwide, including numerous stores in the UK, Australia, and USA.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey, an American television personality, actress, and entrepreneur whose syndicated daily talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, discusses American pop-culture consciousness. Alongside TV hosting, Oprah has gone on to gain many achievements in her life; founding her own production company The ‘Oprah Winfrey Network’, website and radio station. Oprah is also ranked one of the most influential people by Forbes and we can see why.
Charlotte Tilbury
Charlotte Tilbury MBE is a British make-up artist, founder, chairperson, president and chief creative officer of her makeup and skincare brand, Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Ltd. As a British Vogue Contributing Editor and Global Ambassador for ‘Women for Women International’, Charlotte Tilbury has established a record-breaking, best-selling tri-axis around the world, winning over 230 awards for her brand. Who doesn’t love her Hollywood Flawless Filter?
Pat McGrath
You may recognise Pat McGrath as a British editorial and runway make-up artist, but she is also CEO of the decadent makeup brand, Pat McGrath Labs. After her successful career as a makeup artist, Pat decided she wanted to bring out her own range of truly unique products, referring to the brand as her ‘Golden Revolution’. Pat has always been cosmetics obsessed, which at Cohorted, we can all relate to. She believes makeup is a movement, it is mesmerizing, major, mantra-esque. Three words that Pat has repeated time and time again are: Obsession. Inspiration. Addiction. These became Pat’s guiding principles, her manifesto when bringing the brand to life. McGrath is well known for her adventurous and innovative make-up techniques, including using her hands opposed to brushes.
Jo Malone, Jo Loves
Jo Malone CBE is a British Perfumer, founder of Jo Malone London and Jo Loves, as well as being a scented candle connoisseur. Originally, Jo was a facial therapist, who fell in love with fragrance while working from her discreet skin care clinic, set up inside her London home. Jo launched her first artisan brand, Jo Malone London, which eventually gained cult status across the globe. In 1999, Jo sold the business to Estee Lauder Companies, remaining Creative Director until 2006. But this didn’t stop Jo from progressing onto her next venture, in the form of creating Jo Loves.
Dame Vivienne Westwood
In full, it’s Dame Vivienne Westwood, a British fashion designer notorious for her provocative clothing. Along with her partner, Malcolm McLaren, she extended the influence of the 1970’s punk music into fashion. Westwood began her fashion career in 1971, designing clothes and opening her first shop, ‘Let It Rock’ on 430 Kings Road. The Vivienne Westwood brand still stands strong today, selling luxury apparel, footwear and accessories.
Cher Wang
Cher Wang is a Taiwanese entrepreneur and philanthropist. Wang is Co-Founder and Chairperson of the HTC Corporation and integrated chipset maker for VIA Technologies. She is now considered one of the most powerful and successful women in computer technology. Wang was approached by an acquaintance at Microsoft, who was searching for a manufacturer to build handheld devices using Windows CE operating system. Wang flourished through this opportunity and thus, founded her own company, HTC.
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington is a Greek-American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman. Originally, Huffington co-founded the media company Huffington Post before launching the wellness site Thrive Global, while also belonging to the board of directors for ride-sharing app, Uber. Among many other inspirational businesswomen, Arianna was named in the Time Magazine’s ‘World’s 100 Most Influential People’ and Forbes /Most Powerful Women’ list.
Vera Wang
Vera Wang was born and raised in New York City, and is of a Chinese descent. Wang was Senior Fashion Editor at Vogue for 15 years before undertaking the position of Design Director at Ralph Lauren. After designing her own wedding dress (impressive, right?), Vera Wang opened her very own bridal boutique and soon launched her own signature collection. The iconic bridal range, that to this day, every bride lusts over. Catering mostly to celebrities and socialites, the Vera Wang Bridal House pride themselves in couture gowns by famed designers, think Guy Laroche, Arnold Scaasi, Carolina Herrera and Christian Dior.
Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel’s story is the classic fairy-tale of rags-to-designer-tweed. Born into poverty and unwed parents, Coco was taken to an orphanage where she was raised by Catholic nuns after her mother died. Coco Chanel herself said, “Some people think luxury is the contrary of being poor. No, it is the contrary of vulgarity.” Renowned for her classic innovations, such as the women’s suit, the quilted purse and the de rigueur “little black dress”. Chanel is also home to the phenomenally successful perfumery, Chanel No. Chanel is classed as the most desirable luxury fashion brand in the world, and was of course founded by Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1910.
Jeanne Lanvin
Jeanne Lavin was a French haute couture fashion designer, founder of the Lanvin fashion house and Lanvin Parfums. It was in fact the clothing Lanvin made for her daughter that attracted the attention of a number of wealthy people, who began requesting copies for their own children. Soon after, Lanvin was making dresses for their mothers, and some of the most famous names in Europe were part of her clientele. You can find pieces from Lanvin’s famous collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Estée Lauder
The famous quote, “I never dreamed about success, I worked for it”, were true words spoken by Estee Lauder, founder of the company that bears her name. Estee was not only a visionary; she was a role model. Born and raised in Queens, New York, her interest in beauty was sparked in high school, when her uncle came to live with the family and created velvety skin creams from their family home. In later life, Lauder officially formed Estee Lauder Cosmetics Inc., after years of selling products on her own. Her legacy lives on to this day, through a cult beauty company, that is now both luxury and affordable.
Mary Quant
Inventive, yet opinionated, Mary Quant was the most iconic fashion designer of the 1960’s. A design and retail pioneer, she popularised super-high hemlines and prominent looks that were critical to the development of the ‘Swinging Sixties’ scene. Quant claimed she was the mastermind behind the iconic ‘miniskirt’ in 1964. In 2015, Mary Quant was appointed an OBE and also a DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to British fashion. Quant’s collection and brand was named Mary Quant Ltd, but as of 2000, she made the decision to quit the fashion empire, losing control of her universally accredited name.
Join us in paying tribute to our female trailblazers and head over to the Cohorted App, where you can delve deep into exclusive content and conversation from our founder community.
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