The evolution of inclusivity and accessibility in beauty
Since the ground-breaking launch of Fenty Beauty and the normalisation of 40 shades of foundation in September 2017, the beauty industry was challenged to quickly evolve, developing products and marketing campaigns where diversity is the focus.
It’s fantastic that we are expressing and celebrating differences in skin colour, body shape and gender-fluid consumers through beauty but there is still some hesitation from brands to break the current stereotypes and boundaries to accommodate for further reaches of ‘diversity’ (such as mental and physical health).
By 2021, WGSN predicts that the inclusivity movement will continue to grow with the inclusion of physical and mental needs; considering about 15% of the world's population lives with some form of disability, it is a reasonable assumption that consumers are asking brands to provide uncomplicated solutions that tailor for the vast variety of specialised and functional impairments.
Is the market adapting quickly enough?
The solution for ‘healthy’ or ‘good health’ has always classically been linked with blending all the green vegetables in your fridge into a smoothie or completing a daily 5km run before 7am, but consumers are beginning to understand that their mental state, self-acceptance and happiness is fundamental and equally as important for their well-rounded personal health. Mintel’s 2019 research on mental health, shared that 42% of US consumers are putting a lot of emphasis towards their wellbeing; highlighting a clear direction to all consumer facing brands. Lifting the lid on other industries, like fashion, we see how retailers and brands are slowly changing and beginning to throw their support behind inclusivity and accessibility.
Accessible Fashion
Fashion brands have taken a stance to improve their inclusivity and acceptance via strong marketing campaigns and considered clothing ranges. Imani Barbarinin rightly articulates in her article for Disability Horizons ‘Disability and fashion: 5 adaptive clothing lines we love’ that “people with disabilities deserve the choice of self-expression using fashion and it is great that designers have begun to take notice of the limitations of mainstream fashion”.
Brands are taking note - Tommy Hilfiger unveiled Tommy Adaptive in Spring 2020 which includes a variety of pieces that have modifications such as bungee cord closures, magnetic buttons and one-handed zippers. Whilst developing the range, Tommy Hilfiger worked closely with the disabled community to ensure that significant improvements were made previous lines (first launched a range in 2016 for children with disabilities.) As well as launching an empowering campaign, Hilfiger also released a behind the scenes video where director James Rath, who is legally blind, discusses his approach to the story telling and how he built the narrative around the clothes.
Online fashion retailer ASOS uses models that represent groups that have not classically been seen in fashion; collaborating with Great Britain archery Paralympic hopeful Chloe Ball-Hopkins to release a tie-dye waterproof jumpsuit that was adaptable to be wheelchair friendly. Stemmed from the idea of wanting to feel fashionable at festivals, Chloe says “[wheelchair bound consumers] don't want to have to look like we're just doing practicality, we still want to be able to look fashionable" so the jumpsuit was created to ensure that the same version could be bought, whether wheelchair bound or not.
Missguided launched another great campaign in 2019 campaign ‘#MAKEYOURMARK’ (following up on the brilliant #InYourOwnSkin campaign in 2018) encouraging consumers to love themselves, for themselves and for who they are . Body positivity has seen a huge increase in activity on social channels and brands are beginning to understand they need to have a legitimate voice in the conversation. In their campaign, Missguided discuss how ‘we put our bodies through so much mental and physical stress, it is vital that we learn to love and appreciate what we have’. Couldn’t agree more!
“Do not strive for what the world perceives as perfection. Because f*ck perfection, it doesn’t exist.
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CAN BEAUTY BE MORE THAN SKIN DEEP?
Just as fashion brands are throwing their support into body positivity, many beauty brands have stepped up and used platforms such as Mental Healthy Awareness month as an opportunity to promote their mental health supporting projects or launch new initiatives in support of certain causes. The industry seems to currently be split into 2 active approaches to supporting accessibility:
1. Donations
We often see brands partnering with charities to support them with their wellbeing and mental health missions. A prime example is Philosophy Skincare’s Hope & Grace Initiative where every product sold donates a percentage to the charity WISH (a user-led charity working with women with mental health needs.) Since 2014, they have raised $43m and have supported over 1.5m women during their time of need.
2. Improving consumer reach
Brands are started to understand that their products are not always accessible to certain consumers. Supporting 253 million people worldwide or 23 million people in the US today who are visually impaired, Herbal Essences has produced the first-ever mass hair care bottle that will make it easier for consumers to distinguish their shampoo and conditioner through sense of touch. By adding a small tactile adaption to each bottle; raised lines on the shampoo and raised circles on the conditioner, Herbal Essences are hoping all consumers, such as the elderly (not just visually impaired) will benefit from the new feature.
Grace Beauty, a brand and community platform have announced in March 2019 they will be launching three mascara add-ons for easier handling. They allow for a better grip, control and ultimately safety whilst applying mascara and the response, in their own words has been unexpected and overwhelming.
We can see from the above examples that brands are starting to recognise the consumer want and need to feel accepted and part of the beauty community, regardless of their differences. It is remarkable and recognisable how far the beauty industry has developed and how many brands are making a stance against the ‘norm’, but there is still a lot of changes that could be made to improve inclusivity and accessibility.
Small changes but HUGE improvements
When digging deeper, we found that the significant changes fell into two categories - focusing on the emotional/mental health and physical needs of consumers - we’ve shared a few examples and thoughts on how brands could adapt moving forwards.
Emotional
With the growing exposure and support for mental health, such as, Mental Health Awareness Week and International Men’s Day, it seems the beauty industry needs to evolve further into helping this consumer need with mood-enhancing products that directly address emotional health. 72% of British females aged 16-24 are interested in using a fragrance to de-stress and almost half to boost mental clarity so it has become clear that beauty products are becoming the ‘go-to’ remedy for consumers to enhance their feelings and mood - they are realising that low energy levels can be addressed whilst proactively managing appearance.
The classic beauty routine is merging into a self-care routine and brands will need to ensure their products are packed with key and sensorial features such as essential oils and simple and transparent ingredients. Consumers are beginning to look at both proven and unproven modalities as their emotional health and product claims relating to this are increasing and becoming more important than the physical benefits.
Physical
61m adults in the USA live with a disability and the beauty industry is finally recognising that it’s their social responsibility to make their products accessible to all and there is also a large untapped market for them to explore and lead the revolution to ensure that everyone can feel at their best. We found there are a number of ways that brands could greatly improve their stance on accessibility by taking small steps - ranging from improving durable packaging, partnering with manufacturers whose key focus is supporting those with physical disabilities and co-creating products with key influencers to develop relevant product ranges. Whilst there are brands that are moving towards a more inclusive position, recognition and development is along way off from being a universal in its approach.
Understanding the future of inclusivity and accessibility
The beauty industry is beginning to offer products for a wider demographic, but there are still products, brands and retailers out there that seem a million miles away from many consumers with emotional needs and physical disabilities. Imagine an industry where every person, no matter their skin colour, body shape, mental state or with a form of disability could feel empowered enough to use the same mascara.
Obviously any brand looking to move into a truly inclusive and accessible product arena needs to do so from a position of being authentic and wanting to make changes for the greater good but now, more than ever, seems the time to acknowledge the vast, diverse range of needs and make a change.
THE BEAUTY BRAND COACH
Further reading
https://www.byrdie.com/charitable-beauty-brands-mental-health
https://www.missguided.co.uk/campaign/make-your-mark
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-44721385
https://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/
https://www.philosophyskincare.co.uk/hope-and-grace.html
https://www.mintel.com/blog/beauty-market-news/beauty-spot-beauty-taps-into-the-emotions
https://www.mintel.com/blog/new-market-trends/you-heard-it-here-first-brands-without-limits