By Keeva Stratton
It’s incredible to think that 100 years ago, a woman took a $6000 dollar loan from her brother to fill what was considered a superficial need for beautifying women, and went on to etch out the beginnings of a billion-dollar industry. Elizabeth Arden, like all female entrepreneurs of her era, was a pathbreaking woman. Not only did the brand provide many a skincare and make-up solution to women all around the globe, but, through its creator, demonstrated that women can truly be great business leaders.
When the first iconic red door (she wanted to stand out), to the Elizabeth Arden Fifth Avenue store opened in 1910 in New York City the customers flocked and demands were high. Faced with the economic challenges of two World Wars, the political and ideological changes for women, and her female presence in a male dominated business world, her path was fraught with many obstacles. Working with her own mantra that: ‘To be beautiful and natural is the birthright of every woman’, Arden seized the opportunities that her time presented to create and cement the first American beauty brand of its kind. She provided the well-known female movement the suffragettes with red lipstick as a symbol of independence; and she was the first to look at beauty products from a scientific perspective, applying scientific techniques to create creams and cosmetics that felt luxurious and helped to restore damaged skin.
Elizabeth Arden shifted the aesthetic direction of make-up in America, allowing women to play with colour, have fun, and create new looks, which influenced make-up trends all across the pacific region. Following a trip to Paris, Arden, inspired by the Parisian women’s use of colour, including rouged cheeks and bold lips, developed a full line of skin-care and colour cosmetics that were introduced to Americans in 1916. Consumers were encouraged to match foundations with skin tone and use colours to match outfits – techniques we now consider fundamental.
Believing women should be able to enjoy and celebrate their beauty skin-care became her focus, with products such as the iconic Eight Hour Cream first making its debut in 1930. Four years later, she opened Maine Chance, the first destination spa in America, and in so doing created a new way for women to indulge and recharge.
Beauty products, which are today a billion dollar industry, were only then in their infancy, and the potential of women as a target audience was starting to be realised – how fitting that a woman should be the one to pioneer in such an industry during a time when women were not considered capable of running companies.
Since her passing in 1966, the brand has continued to expand and evolve, with Hollywood icon Catherine Zeta-Jones becoming the modern face of the brand. Zeta-Jones described her involvement as inspired by the brand’s origins: ‘Elizabeth Arden was such a visionary, and I am excited to be part of the company she created. As she said, ‘To be beautiful and natural is the birthright of every woman.’ I wholeheartedly agree with this philosophy. I’m proud of our company, our past, our today, and our very bright and beautiful future.’
Elizabeth Arden took a loan from her brother and created a global empire. She has graced the cover of Time Magazine, and has received the praise of Forbes Magazine. Her product range transformed not only how make-up trends have evolved, by encompassing scientific techniques she allowed skin-care to become available to all women. Elizabeth Arden’s belief that the beauty experience is a deserved right of every woman set the sturdy foundations for a true icon of beauty.
To enjoy Elizabeth Arden today, visit www.elizabetharden.com.au/