Sephora Canada gets 15% better
Retailer joins pledge to feature more BIPOC brands.
Big news in the beauty space: Sephora Canada has joined the 15 Percent Pledge, committing to dedicate 25 per cent of its offerings to BIPOC-owned brands by 2026.
“I was blown away, to be honest,” Aurora James says of the news over the phone. The founder of shoe and accessory brand Brother Vellies launched the 15 Percent Pledge last summer as people were taking to the streets to protest systemic racism and the murder of George Floyd by former police officer Derek Chauvin. James called on retailers to devote 15 per cent of their shelf space to Black-owned brands to represent the U.S.’s Black population.
Stateside, Sephora was one of the first big names to sign on. “I was always hoping that Sephora Canada was going to commit to the pledge,” says James, who was born and raised in Guelph, Ont. “I knew they were working on it and I was like, ‘Hmm, I wonder what’s taking so long?’ ”
The answer is what the retailer’s senior vice-president of merchandising, Jane Nugent, calls an “ambitious goal.” Currently, close to 15 per cent of brands carried by Sephora Canada are BIPOC-owned. “Given this, we wanted to push ourselves with the goal of 25 per cent to make an even bigger impact.” The number was chosen to represent the diversity of Canada’s population, roughly a quarter of which identifies as BIPOC. As Nugent explains, ensuring greater representation within its offering is central to Sephora Canada’s “mission of creating a more inclusive retail experience and sense of belonging for all.”
That sense of inclusion is particularly meaningful in the beauty realm as our connection to the products we apply to our skin and hair runs deep. “I think that a lot of these male CEOs at these huge beauty conglomerates aren’t really realizing how intimate it is for women,” says James. “Oftentimes, we do our beauty routine in the bathroom in our most vulnerable state, maybe not wearing clothes, just out of the shower. What you choose to engage with in these moments is very special and important.”
As a woman of a mixed background — “My father was born in Ghana and my mom was adopted at birth so she’s not entirely sure what her ethnic heritage is, but she presents as a white woman,” James says — she knows first-hand how significant it is to see oneself reflected in the beauty aisles.
“I would be way more inclined to buy a product that was specifically marketed at hair that’s a mixed texture like mine than I would some random mass product on the shelf that says it’s for curly hair,” she says. “I think we need to make sure that everyone feels like there are products out there that are going to make them, specifically, be the best version of themselves.”
The impact this kind of representation can have on consumers is huge. But even more rewarding, says James, is the impact on founders and makers. She frequently receives messages from people who own companies she never knew existed informing her that they’ve just onboarded at a retailer that’s taken the Pledge. A common theme is that it’s a milestone that always felt out of reach and is one that’ll likely change not only their lives but that of their entire family.
“I’ve been through that,” says James. “I launched my company at a flea market and I didn’t know that anyone would ever care. And then I saw people care and I saw the impact it had on me, my friends, my family and my supply chain, and how incredible it’s been.”
She’s certainly come a long way since those flea market days. Two years ago, James was named International Designer of the Year at the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards. Accepting the prize in a gauzy tulle number, feet bedecked in one of her feathery creations, she told the audience how every time she took a stand, whether it was campaigning for Hillary Clinton or partnering with Planned Parenthood, her American friends worried it might be bad for business. Her loved ones back in Canada, meanwhile, saw no other way.
“Over and over again, I get asked the same question in America, ‘What makes you do this?’ ” she said. “There is truly just one very clear answer: It’s the fact that I’m Canadian.”
“There’s a commitment that Canada has always had towards equality,” James says today. “I’m not saying there isn’t racism that happens in Canada, of course there is. But I would say that Canadians in general tend to be much faster to own their mistakes and also collaborate on fixes. And they’re also much more likely to be like, ‘Why not?’ ”
James credits her mother with introducing her to social justice activism. One cause she remembers from her childhood was the fight against laws that prohibited women from going topless in public, as opposed to men, who could go shirtless. “I remember us campaigning for that and being like, ‘Mom, if this happens, does that mean that you’re not going to wear a shirt anymore?’ And she was like, ‘Of course I’m going to wear a shirt because that’s not the point at all, the point is equality.’ I think that commitment to fighting for equality even when it doesn’t directly relate to you was ingrained in me,” says James.
The announcement Sephora Canada has made means soon we’ll all be able to walk into a store and select great products from brands owned by Indigenous people, Black people, people of colour. But the impact won’t end there. James points out these are people have historically been excluded from not only these spaces, but from business in general, and from the ability to grow generational wealth for their communities.
“It’s more than just a moisturizer or a lipstick,” she says. “It’s really about building a solid path forward for economic equality.”