The annual South by Southwest festival is in full swing. From March 13-21, the focus is on film, and throughout this week, numerous speakers and presenters are holding conferences to share their wealth of knowledge. Within this group, several key fashion and beauty speakers will also be gracing the stage. Here’s a few key people to follow:
1. Actress Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba launched The Honest Company in 2011 to provide nontoxic, effective, beautiful, and most importantly, affordable home products for every family. The only problem was neither potential business partners nor investors were willing to bet on the idea.
Three years later, The Honest Company is cleaning up the competition with its household and baby products and business strategy. Revenues in 2014 are projected to hit $150 million, and the company has raised $122 million in funding–including a $70 million round in last summer that valued The Honest Company at nearly $1 billion dollars.
Alba opened up this past Sunday about what it took to win over the early skeptics, how to build a household brand, and how they’ve come so far so quickly.
2. Ashley Pittman
Founder/Creative director of Ashley Pittman collections, Pittman’s jewelry collection provides much-needed employment and business training to local artisan groups – while also producing a gorgeous product. Ashley launched her jewelry collection with Bergdorf Goodman in October 2009, and has since expanded to luxury retailers such as Neiman Marcus, NET-A-PORTER, and high-end boutiques. Pittman will be one of a few presenters speaking about socially conscious style and making giving back a mission, not a publicity stint.
3. Hayley Barna
As co-founder and co-CEO of the wildly successful beauty subscription company Birchbox, Barna has shown her prowess as a leader in the beauty industry. Despite her success and many other women leaders, there’s a surprisingly thick glass ceiling in fashion. Women spend the majority of consumer dollars in the United States (controlling more than 80 percent of spending), and populate the majority of fashion jobs, but there’s a disconnect between the male CEOs of major retail corporations (such as Target), which often cater to female demographics such as young mothers and teen girls. Barna and a few other industry leaders discuss how big companies can learn from their successes, and how best to cater to today’s women.