“I believe we’re transferring into an area the place most magnificence corporations are tech corporations,” says Maya Smith.
It’s a putting declare from a model that launched in 2012, lengthy earlier than AI was all over the place. However The Doux has all the time been forward of the curve. Since day one, the haircare model has been anchored in tradition: hip-hop references, retro- and Afrofuturism, Black hair-salon nostalgia, all in service of promoting hair merchandise to Black girls.
For all AI can do, Smith, who’s The Doux’s co-founder, CEO, and artistic director, is effectively conscious that system biases are nonetheless rampant; the tech is accelerating quicker than entry and illustration. “What I understood is that to ensure that that to vary, you actually need to begin to practice AI,” Smith tells me. “I needed to be part of [it].”
Right here’s how she’s doing precisely that.
Partnering with Black Ladies Code
Collaborating with Black Ladies Code (BGC), The Doux launched the Black Beauty AI Challenge again in June, calling on budding creators to submit their unique AI-generated movies.
Aside from the requirement to make use of solely free instruments like Canva, Capcut, or Pika — “as a result of a variety of the obstacles are to do with entry” — members got deliberately broad parameters to showcase how they outline Black magnificence, for an opportunity to earn money prizes and extra visibility alternatives. Winners can be introduced later this month.
“I perceive that there‘s some apprehension, as a result of lots of people don’t perceive it,” says Smith, hopeful that this problem offers some consciousness. “Nevertheless it‘s essential for Black creators to have the ability to take part within the AI dialog, as a result of it’s not going anyplace.”
Key takeaway: Main with schooling and entry is a robust type of thought management and a strong solution to construct belief and authority.
Letting tradition lead
Previous to the BGC partnership, Smith had already been experimenting with AI to assist carry her marketing campaign and product launches to life.
To assist execute the imaginative and prescient for The Doux’s Press Play Assortment, which launched final yr, she used Midjourney AI to prepare the infinite ideas in her head and generate usable renderings that guided her manufacturing staff. “We did not need to spend so much of money and time on revisions,” says Smith.
Smith is impressed by every thing from the Black Barbie evolution to pin-up tradition to Palm Springs aesthetics. “When individuals are speaking with any of those platforms, even if you happen to‘re good at it, you’re nonetheless going to need to be very particular,” says Smith.
“You need to be taught [in this case] artwork historical past in order that you already know what to say. You need to study digicam angles, huge photographs. You continue to have to coach your self on what you are telling AI to do.”
The most recent launch was no totally different. Merchandise throughout The Doux’s Block Social gathering Assortment have been formulated to face as much as humidity. The largest problem, notes Smith, was telling this story with out leaning into the everyday, usually culturally unsound marketing campaign showcasing the frizz-to-sleek arc, implying that the hair wasn’t lovely to start with.
With the assistance of AI, a bubble visible turned the metaphor for an anti-humidity barrier.
“Magnificence manufacturers have to lean into the folks they’re serving,” says Smith. “Every part we do is knowledgeable by our group. AI is simply one other solution to interact them.”
Key takeaway: Use AI to make clear — not exchange — your inventive imaginative and prescient. People nonetheless set the tone; AI helps execute it quicker.
AI won’t ever exchange IRL
In that spirit, the “Block Social gathering” idea was customer-led. New York stays its greatest group and what Smith saved listening to in regards to the metropolis caught together with her: that it was altering, that neighborhoods have been wanting totally different than what folks grew up with.
So Block Social gathering turned an homage to the well-known New York block events that raised so a lot of The Doux’s clients.
For its NYC debut celebration, The Doux staff invited 60 magnificence journalists, influencers, and distributors for dinner and dancing, and employed DJ Ty Alexander to steer the set comprising crowd pleasers like Boosie’s “Wipe Me Down,” Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Factor),” and FLY’s “Swag Surfin.”
“I believe our love language to our group is exhibiting them the way in which that we see them and making certain that they see themselves,” says Smith.
Key takeaway: AI is inevitable, however in-person experiences stay irreplaceable drivers of group.
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