‘Success should enable reinvention’: How Oribe cornered the luxury beauty market

When Oribe co-founders Daniel Kaner and Oribe Canales were developing the hair-care brand, they took inspiration from Jennifer Lopez. Having collaborated with the American pop star for nearly two decades, Canales knew how her perfume would fill a room when she entered and linger long after she exited. “[Canales] snapped his fingers and said, ‘that’s what we’re after,’” says Kaner. The two entrepreneurs worked with scent developer Givaudan to channel that insight into Oribe’s signature fragrance, Côte d’Azur, which combines Calabrian bergamot, sandalwood and white butterfly jasmine. 

After spending decades working in the hair care industry – with experience at Aveda as well as Bumble and Bumble – Kaner built a sharp understanding of salon culture and what consumers look for. In 2008 he launched Oribe with Canales, a renowned celebrity hair stylist behind some of the most recognisable looks of the 1990s supermodel heyday. Canales was known for the voluminous styles worn by the likes of Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford as they strutted down the runways for Versace, Chanel and Mugler, and posed across the covers of glossy magazines.

With their combined experience and connection to the wider culture, the duo positioned the label as a fashion brand rather than beauty brand. “Professional products were confined to salons, while mass products lacked aspiration,” says Kaner. “There was an opportunity to build something that combined professional performance with true luxury.”

Though Canales died in 2018, his influence still runs through the company, informing product development, education programmes and marketing campaigns. His stylist-first perspective and instinct for showmanship continue to guide how the label creates and presents its work, still committed to sending their teams to style the runways of fashion weeks around the world. 

Today, Oribe is stocked in 3,000 salons and sold in more than 40 countries, with products such as its Dry Texturizing Spray having built a fiercely loyal following (one is sold every 60 seconds). As the brand expands further with the launch of a new curly-hair collection, Kaner speaks to Monocle Radio’s Brenda Tuohy on The Entrepreneurs about scaling a beauty business, brand integrity and the importance of timing in innovation. 

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Listen to the full interview on The Entrepreneurs from Monocle Radio.

When did you realise that hair care is serious business? 
Everybody wants great hair but people don’t know how to [achieve] it. I spent a lot of time in salons with consumers and stylists. That’s how I noticed a gap in the market: every beauty category had a premium tier except hair. Professional products were confined to salons, while mass products lacked aspiration. There was an opportunity to build something that combined professional performance with true luxury. For that, the details matter – from the spray patterns and formulations to the fragrance and packaging. We thought that if we could come close to all of that then maybe we would have a chance of getting there. 

Was Oribe’s positioning between fashion, beauty and luxury intentional?
Absolutely. From the outset, we saw the brand as part of the fashion world. Oribe [Canales] was such a cool guy. He was so embedded in that culture and the brand followed suit. In the beginning, we would hear ourselves saying, ‘We’re a fashion brand – not a beauty brand [and] not a hair-care brand,’ because it was so much about fashion, hair, makeup and getting the look. It was quite intense and intentional; it still is today.

How do you expand [the company] without diluting the exclusivity of the brand? 
Not all press is good press and not all sales are worthy sales. We always wanted the right curator rather than chasing scale. We stayed with some of the best salon owners in the world and that was really the point of expansion. They [shared] a belief and similar values. They had education within their salons. They believed in beautiful hair and precision. So we’re broadly distributed in the right places, but we’re very selective in who we do business with. 

Hairdressers have a special bond with their clients. How do you nurture that loyalty? 
You have got to build trust with the team, and through that comes comfort. Once you have that you can do anything you need to do. Customers have such trust with their hairdressers, it’s unbelievable. No amount of social-media engagement can top that connection. A ‘like’ is superficial compared to the intimacy of a client sitting in a chair, telling you about their family.

What would you do differently if [you were to start Oribe] today?
Very little. Challenges with supply chains or partnerships are inevitable but my core approach would be the same: to hire great people, build a strong culture, identify a real need and execute at the highest level. I would still be married to the idea of value creation, where everyone walks away feeling like a winner. 

How do you sustain success over time?
Don’t get complacent, keep evolving and experimenting. Success should enable reinvention and momentum creates the perfect opportunity to innovate. Too often businesses exhaust what already works instead of investing in what comes next. I read a book by James Kerr called Legacy and he argues that when you’re at the top of your game, you should change your approach.