Iman Cosmetics

Iman hired makeup artists to do in-store product demos of Iman cosmetics

Background: Fashion photographer Peter Beard discovered Iman in 1975, when she was a 19-year-old student at the University of Nairobi. A year later, the seed for Iman Cosmetics was planted during her first photo shoot for Vogue. (It came when the makeup artist asked Iman if she had her own foundation because he didn’t have a formula for black skin.)

Over the next two decades, even as she was gracing countless magazine covers and serving as the muse for fashion designers Yves St. Laurent and Versace, Iman always mixed and tested her own foundation. Women frequently came up to her and asked which brand of foundation she was wearing, thinking that the famous model had access to some fancy new formula.

Iman Cosmetics: Despite frequent discussion about multiculturalism and “the browning of America,” Iman, who had retired from modeling in 1992, realized that there was a dearth of quality beauty products for women of color. After finding a business partner and researching Census data that showed rises in the population and median incomes of African-American and Latinos, Iman decided the time was right to create a line of products targeted at this market.

In 1994, Iman Cosmetics and its accompanying skincare line were unveiled at 400 J.C. Penney (JCP) stores across the country, as well as at department stores in England, France, and Canada.

In 2007, Iman leveraged her success to launch a line of handbags and accessories, Iman Global Chic, on the HSN.