The Task

Some movements happen slowly, and then all at once. It’s that type of bubbling, explosive energy that fueled a hair texture revolution around the world in the last decade. It used to be that many women chose to straighten their hair. But that’s clearly changing. On runways, in movies, on social media and in the streets of cities on all continents, more and more women are wearing their curls and coils with pride, like a crown.

Answering the Curl Call

Kérastase responded to the movement with Curl Manifesto, a luxury curl care range that addresses the desires of women with curly, very curly or coily hair. After 12 months of listening to curly haired women around the world, the brand drew on the expertise of high-profile hairdressers and hair scientists to create a line of moisturizing, nourishing curl care, launched alongside an ambitious set of educational initiatives for salons and stylists around the world.

The Making of the Message

Our challenge was to present Curl Manifesto from a place of cultural sensitivity and humility, while still asserting confidence around Kérastase’s unique qualifications for creating the very best luxury care for curls. We boldly chose to address the historic narrative of segregation and exclusivity in the professional hair industry by replacing it with a message of equality and empowerment for all women.

The Execution

We began by poring over months of market research revealing women’s challenges and desires around curl care, drawing from the pain in the stories of women being turned away from salons because a hairdresser didn’t know how to work with their hair texture. Often, they were offered straightening treatments, or sold products that were wrong for their hair type. We recognized how emotionally damaging it can be to live in a culture that constantly says that your hair is not beautiful as it grows, that you need to change something about yourself to be considered beautiful.

But it is society that needs to change. So we combined our new insight around the history of curl care and our deep knowledge of the Kérastase brand ethos to build a powerful verbal world around the politically charged topic of hair texture. First, we created a glossary of terms. Common beliefs about texture are rooted in cultural ignorance, or just biologically incorrect. Once we got our facts and language right, we used it to create a message of empowerment around curls: MANIFEST YOUR GREATNESS.

We wanted women to feel a sense of pride around their curls, to think of them as a crown that brings with it power and beauty. We applied the message to a campaign that included a comprehensive press kit, editorial content for consumers and a new training initiative for hair professionals. The goal is to revolutionize the industry from the inside out, and create a world where everyone can be proud of the hair they have.