Following in the footsteps of multi-hyphenate stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Blake Lively, Drew Barrymore has launched a lifestyle brand in collaboration with Amazon Fashion. The range, called Dear Drew, includes fashion pieces, as well as heated hair tools.
The actress’s entrepreneurial savvy looks to poise her latest ambition to success. She is, after all, co-founder of production company, Flower, with Nancy Juvonen. In 2013, she launched cosmetics company, Flower Beauty, in partnership with retail colossus Wal-Mart. She has also served as the face of mega brands, such as CoverGirl, and has learned about appealing to the masses from a beauty perspective, having leveraged all she learned while working with the former Procter & Gamble beauty brand. In the last year, Flower Beauty expanded its Wal-Mart-exclusive presence to an e-commerce site, flowerbeauty.com. It was a smart move that allows her to extend her offerings to a wider range of fans.
Her lifestyle brand, Dear Drew, embraces her lively, carefree spirit with pops of color and statement prints. Described as the actress’s “love letter to women around the world,” the collection features a mix of vibrant tops, skirts and dresses, along with scarves and jewelry that can be mixed and matched.
From a beauty perspective, Dear Drew doesn’t delve into the competing space of makeup or even skin care, but the brand does offer a collection of luxe heat tools. Drew’s hair has influenced pop culture for more than two decades, so the foray into the follicular is only natural. After all, who can forget that Drew was one of the forerunners of ombre hair color? Her lengthy, glossy locks have taken on many styles over the years: a pert bob; a fiery-red hue; a pixie cut. But she always returns to her signature on-trend, messy, beachy waves.
Creating “a hair tool for every ‘you’ that you want to be,” the robust heat-tool suite offers five items ranging from $50 to $175. There’s You Are Effortless, a ceramic styling brush; You Are Playful, a ceramic fiber curling iron; You Are Sleek, a ceramic fiber styling iron; You Are Powerful, an ionic ceramic dryer; and You Are Adventurous, a travel dryer. Drew has learned about packaging aesthetics and how to appeal to a millennial consumer: this year Flower Beauty realized white and rose-gold packaging. Subsequently, her heat tools share a similar style inception with light pink encasements and metallic gold and black adornments. Her heart-adorned logo is bound to appeal to emoji users the world over.
Partnering with the long-established online giant was a strategic decision that will likely play out well. One word of advice: skip the promotion of the site itself and focus PR to the new line.
