A makeshift projector screen shows snippets of childhood videos; Beyoncé in a pink tracksuit wandering the salon floor, Tina Knowles dressed up for the evening, waving to the camera with her young daughter in tow, sporting a flourishing afro. "Hair is sacred," read Beyoncé's caption as she revealed the brand name, Cécred.
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Intermixed with her family's archival footage are clips of hair washing, braiding and silk presses. Tina Knowles influence on her daughters career has been far-reaching - one of the first music videos Destiny's Child shot was for their first number one hit "Bills, Bills, Bills," (1999), a tale of a disillusioned, independent woman triumphantly cutting off the deadweight of her boyfriend. It was staged in a hairdressers.
"There is power in community, and I saw that growing up the daughter of a salon owner," Beyoncé told Harper's Bazaar in 2021. "I was exposed to so many entrepreneurial women that I admired. Doctors, business owners, artists, teachers, mothers - they all came through my mom's salon. I saw firsthand how a salon can be a sanctuary for women."
"I've seen how much Black women's emotions are attached to our hair and beauty," she told the magazine. "The beauty industry does not always understand these emotions and what we need. I want to build a community where women of all races can communicate and share some of those secrets, so we can continue to support and take care of each other. I want to give women a space to feel their own strength and tell their stories. That is power."
While details about what products Cécred will offer are yet to be shared, a trademark request filed in the summer of 2022 clears the company for production of hair care preparations, candles, vitamin supplements, electric hair styling tools, combs, hair accessories, pillow cases and four other goods and services categories.
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While the launch date is now imminent, keen fans of Beyoncé may recall that she teased this venture in May last year, telling her followers on Instagram about how she watched her mother at work: "Having learned so much on my hair journey, I've always dreamt of carrying on her legacy."
Beyoncé is not the first celebrity to recently enter the world of hair care. In 2019, Tracee Ellis Ross launched Pattern, a now-award winning natural hair line focused on "curl conscious and textured" customers. Two years later, "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston - whose shiny, face-framing layers became known as "The Rachel" haircut on TikTok - launched a line of vegan and cruelty free hair products called LolaVie.
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