L’Oréal touts wearable hairstylist device, League of Experts expansion and Hong Kong beauty tech
27 Jun 2024 --- L’Oréal celebrates multiple milestones, including ithe Protect team winning Brandstorm 2024, new celebrity additions to the League of Experts and the launch of the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program in Hong Kong.
Hairstylist health wins
The Protect team from France wins the L’Oréal Brandstorm 2024 competition with its wearable gadget that tracks hairdressers’ hand, wrist and back posture to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. The finals were held in London’s Riverside Studios where the team learned they will go to L’Oréal Groupe headquarters to work on a specific assignment during a three-month entrepreneurship program.
L’Oréal’s Professional Products Division sponsored Brandstorm 2024, which centered around reimagining professional beauty through technology. Over 100,000 people worldwide entered the competition. Young people from various backgrounds presented creative beauty projects and received mentoring from academics, scientists and business executives. The finals saw 43 teams from 64 countries compete.
Omar Hajeri, president of the L’Oréal Professional Products Division, praised Protect for their focus on hairdressers’ health: “Their vision for the future of professional beauty is highly complementary to the Professional Products Division, where together with hairstylists, we are constantly reinventing beauty. Thank you to all the 2024 Brandstorm participants for delivering a tour de force of creativity.”
League of Experts
L’Oréal Paris expands its League of Experts to include celebrity hair colorist Dimitris Giannetos and dermatologists Dr. Chris Tomassian and Dr. Luke Maxfield. The professionals are expected to contribute to the brand’s beauty vision through their expertise.
Dimitris Giannetos is renowned for his ability to create memorable editorial and red-carpet looks for celebrities. Dr. Chris Tomassian engages a broad audience with accessible dermatological content through social media and Dr. Luke Maxfield educates his followers on maintaining healthy skin by combining medical knowledge with engaging content.
The team includes industry experts Allan Avendaño, Erica Taylor, Claudia Betancur and Jennifer Yepez. The collective aims to make beauty concepts accessible.
L’Oréal Hong Kong launches the Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program, an open innovation accelerator that promotes the co-creation and development of future beauty experiences. In partnership with Business France and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), the project aims to use innovation and technology to meet consumers’ changing needs.
The program will partner with tech start-ups to enhance Lancôme “Domaine de la Rose” experience in Hong Kong. HKSTP and Business France will scout innovative solutions from Hong Kong and French start-ups, co-incubating and nurturing these talents to develop revolutionary beauty tech solutions.
Eva Yu, president and managing director of L’Oréal Hong Kong, emphasized the program’s goal to push boundaries in beauty tech through collaboration. Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP, highlighted their role in accelerating start-ups’ commercialization. Christile Drulhe, Consul general of France in Hong Kong and Macau, praised L’Oréal’s commitment to fostering emerging talent.
In recent news, L’Oréal sought data, formulation and medical tech expertise from SAPMENA start-ups and launched an automated hair coloring device backed by 29 patents.
By Venya Patel
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