Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard the news of Black-Owned Beauty Brand Ami Colé closing its chapter. While this is undoubtedly a devastating occurrence, it should not be framed as another chapter in a narrative failure for Black beauty brands.
One of the greatest triumphs in this situation is that founder Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye was able to announce the closure on her own terms, rather than having the news broken by the press. This approach honored her mother’s name and is quite the achievement—considering many Black founders aren’t afforded the privilege or time to speak their own truths.
Several iconic beauty editors, content creators and industry titans have taken to social media to express their sorrow and celebrate the brand that many of us knew and loved. At times, it felt as though there was a sound of pity in some of the tributes. Something that has become deeply unsettling to me. When a Black-owned brand closes its doors, there’s an immediate tendency to highlight systemic issues and failures. Understandable. Yet, if Ami Colé’s closure has taught us anything, it’s that there’s no time to fall into the loom and doom of Black Beauty Brand Victimhood.
For many Black women, this narrative is all too familiar, often triggering a White Savior complex amongst our counterparts, who may mean well—but it is something we simply don’t need anymore. Instead, we should recognize both the obvious challenges and achievements of brands like Ami Colé without defaulting to a position of defeat.
We know that visibility for Black-Owned Beauty brands at this point in time is not an issue. There are many publications staffed with Black beauty editors, writers, journalists that will help spread the information to the masses, along with the high volume of Black content creators as well who have cultivated the art of creating a fantasy for brands that will make you open up your coin purse. However, at the center of it all is the lack of funding.
For any Black-Owned brand, funding will always be top of mind. As someone that has worked for larger conglomerate brands and also on the Indie Brand side, I’ve seen how quickly dollars are thrown at brands that are centered around whiteness. Additionally, one small, but integral, truth that many financiers and marketers leave out is that the more investors give to your brand, the more stake they own and the less power you have to actually be the voice of your brand. After all, the goal now is to move dollars and turn profit.
This is a sword that many Black brands have fallen on because we’re, oftentimes, not given the keys to the rulebook for success. This is an oversight that myself and my colleagues at Glossier thought of when we created the Black-owned Beauty brand grant in 2020 in the thick of Geroge Floyd and Civil unrest. Though it was a start for many of the brands on the market that we know and love today, the equity and equality gap is still quite wide.
It’s time to stop with the “Black Owned Brand Can’t Win” and “Why Are All The Black Beauty Brands” closing rhetoric. Tighten up, friends.
With DEI policies being rolled back, (even though we know DEI was never about Black people) and other happenings that affect Black women and men, the truth is now more apparent than ever: the key to surviving will be through fostering true community.
I’m not one to give away the game for free, because it is to be sold and not to be told, however, we know that the Black dollar holds weight and that hammering down within our respective communities and spreading a message to the masses of what we’re intending will be the coalition that saves us and our brands.
If we take a look at the Civil Rights Movement, we can take note of how we’ll need to lean in, serve our communities, and save our Black-Owned brands in a way that feels inclusive and safe.
In the end, investors’ dollars will never stand a chance against the Black woman and her love for beauty.