What's the deal with independent brands these days? Wasn’t it just yesterday that large, corporate entities were gobbling up the small guys, adding them to the robust assemblage that makes up their business portfolios?

It was, and they still are. However, smaller, independent brands have been experiencing a resurgence as of late that has bolstered their market position, making them increasingly competitive with the larger corporations and enabling them to maintain their autonomy.

This is an interesting phenomenon that is not restricted to the beauty industry; it has permeated the food, malt beverage, and even music industries, just to name a few. This has not occurred by sheer happenstance, but as the result of many intentional brand decisions perfectly married to a shift in consumer preference. The problem that these independent brands often face, however, is a lack of name recognition, and they are at a loss when it comes to opportunities to promote their brands from a legitimate platform.

The First Ever, Indie Beauty Expo (iBE)

This is the exact issue that Jillian Wright, founder of Jillian Wright Skincare, encountered in 2010 when she decided to create her own skincare brand and what directed her to establish, the first ever, Indie Beauty Expo (iBE).

“When I decided to get into trade shows, I couldn’t find one that really suited my brand and its needs. I wanted my brand to be frontline and center, but at large expos or big brand shows, brands like mine are more often treated like side stage attractions. I became frustrated by this, and so, last year, I decided to do an event myself. I wanted to curate an environment of luxury, to host special brands,” stated Wright.

Also the founder and owner of Jillian Wright Clinical Skin Spa in Manhattan, Wright had the opportunity to sell her skincare line through her own venue, an opportunity that many simply do not have, and, as a result, are tasked with seeking out potential buyers for their products.

Knowing how difficult this task is, through her own experiences with it, Wright made up her mind to create the platform that these brands need, and with the help of Nader Naeymi-Rad, a local businessman, the two set about creating iBE.

“As a consumer, I struggled finding places that sold cool brands. Brands, likewise, struggle to find buyers and buyers struggle to find brands,” stated Naeymi-Rad, CEO of Vesture, a luxury fashion company.

These two congruent views are what led to the creation of iBE.

What's the deal with iBE? iBE was designed to bring together a large collection of indie beauty brands, buyers, press, and consumers – the four constituents.

“We really want to maximize the return on time and resources that people are investing,” stated Naeymi-Rad. “We also want to build community between buyers and brands. This is a unique occurrence to have them in one room together.”

But, is this, in fact, a “unique occurrence?” Don’t beauty expos occur with great frequency across the world? To answer this, Naeymi-Rad explained to me what it is that makes this event unique. 

“Nobody has, to this point, clearly defined the [indie] category and put together a specifically curated, professionally executed, multi-channel expo for its promotion,” he stated.

From the word, independent (indie-pendent), one can see where the event name originated. To come up with this clever hook, Wright and Naeymi-Rad worked closely with an advisory group. This group also aided in the creation of the four criteria upon which brands were judged and decided upon for participation in their curated list.

Wright explained, “There had to be viability and professionalism attached to the brand. In order to get qualified buyers, there needs to be qualified brands, so all have been individually approved. I would ask questions, look at their website, their packaging, their ingredients, their story, etc.”

The Criteria for Choosing Exhibitors

The four criteria, produced with the aid of the advisory group and utilized by Wright in determining brand participation, revolved around four, specific questions.

1. Is the brand truly independent? After thorough research and discussion, it was determined that to be qualified as independent, a brand must be at least 50% owned by the individuals who run the company, thus enabling them to pursue their goals.


2. Does the brand have viability? This determines a brand’s current distribution capability


3. Is the brand operating with “clean beauty?” This, according to Wright, was a big requirement for them. She stated, “We permit no brands that use ‘villain ingredients.’” Wright informed Beauty Packaging that they strictly adhere to Jeannie Jarnot’s list from SpaHeroes, including ingredients such as hydroquinone, triclosan, butylated hydroxyanisole, sodium lauryl sulfate, parabens, et al.


4. Is there brand professionalism? Naeymi-Rad explained that they wanted brands that were able to “properly and professionally market themselves, not exhibiting from a straw booth, selling products out of mason jars with homemade labels.”

If the brands were able to meet these four criteria, they were invited to participate in the event, which Wright desires to be a “sensory overload.”

“I want buyers to do a 180, to say, ‘Look at that,’ ‘I want to see what’s in that corner,’ ‘I need to find out what is downstairs,’” she explained.

iBE To Feature More Than 65 Brands

With more than 65 brands exhibiting, there should be more than enough going on to keep guests engaged and “overloaded.”

The brands included in the event are, presumably also, ecstatic to have a unique platform for their products from which they will be enabled to connect intimately with buyers and consumers alike. According to Naeymi-Rad and Wright, all of the exhibitor slots have sold out, so this should be a full house.

While a few of these independent brands are known, many remain largely undiscovered, looking for professional connections. A few of the brands in the current line-up include Tata Harper, Dermovia, Nugg Beauty, Arya Essentials, Bottega Organica, LVX Nailcare, Soapwalla, and Wright’s own, Jillian Wright Skincare.

“Most of these brands you would never see at a large trade show; they can’t afford it or they just don’t fit,” stated Wright.

She continued, “We wanted to curate an amazing list, it could possibly be double or triple in size, but we wanted to keep it more intimate, especially for our first run.”

The Day

iBE is an all day event scheduled for August 27th in NYC. The location - the Altman Building at 135 West 18th Street, was strategically chosen as a point of convenience, encouraging maximum attendance and participation, bringing together the four main constituents: brands, buyers, consumers, and press.

“A lot of thought went into the when, where, and how,” noted Wright. “We want this to be the ultimate experience, forging relationships between brands and buyers.”

Beginning the day is a press breakfast at 9AM, where exhibitors will share their brand’s unique story to an eager press. According to iBE’s PR company, this event will be heavily attended by the national consumer media.

“I wanted to add that press element – an intimate breakfast, meet and greet, one-on-one, it is really important because these brands do not typically have a large advertising budget,” stated Wright.

Immediately following the press breakfast, at 10:30AM, comes the business-to-business portion of the day, a major draw for iBE. It is during this portion that professional connections will be made and products will be sold at wholesale.

Wright added, “Retail owners, spa directors, managers, people in charge of retail environments – they are conductors; they are conducting the orchestra. Brands, they are the talent. We want buyers to come and talk to the brands about their formulations, the science, their stories, etc.”

As described by Naeymi-Rad and Wright, iBE is really about bringing together independent brands and buyers, as a way to help them by presenting opportunity. Describing the role of iBE in this process, Naeymi-Rad simply stated, “We are trying to be connective tissue.”

Adding a little extra structure to the business-to-business portion, iBE will also feature informative panels, with such speakers as Rachel Roberts, Marci Zaroff, Jessica Richards, Brenda Brock, and Jeannie Jarnot.

Upon conclusion of the business-to-business portion, the consumer portion commences. 

The consumer portion is open to the public, with a $59 admission fee. This portion lasts from 5PM until 8PM, closing out the evening. It is packed full of activities including giveaways, goodie bags, a flash sale – where consumers get a 25% discount, spa services, more discussion panels, special guest appearances, cocktails, and the unique opportunity for consumers to interact with those people who are responsible for creating the products that the consumers may use.

For Wright, being in the beauty industry for 16 years, this is an amazing experience for both, brands and consumers.

“This is where the heart and soul of what makes people emotional and excited are located. The brands are not talking off a script; they are living it. This touches people,” Wright stated. 

What’s A Brand To Do?

For iBE, this is just the beginning. Future events are almost guaranteed and will likely increase in size and scope as the event becomes more honed and increasingly organized and this is certainly plausible as independent beauty brands are growing rapidly in relation to the rest of the industry. This in part is due to a few reasons, according to Wright and Naeymi-Rad.

Chiefly, younger consumers are looking for something new, and they long for a connection to both the community and the environment. This creates in them a desire for transparency.
“Young buyers want to know who is responsible for what they are purchasing,” Wright stated. “They want full disclosure; they want to know why a brand chose one lab over another.”

This is an aspect that independent brands are truly able to capitalize on. Big brands and their marketers, however, are catching on to this and attempting to emulate. For them, it is a difficult task, though, as Naeymi-Rad pointed out.

“Indie brands are growing almost 10X faster than big brands because of entrepreneurs who are putting their own money at risk and are exploring niches that are too small for big brands to explore successfully.”

Additionally, “many of these indie brands have a specific motivation to treat certain ailments or to include certain ingredients,” thus appealing to consumers via their stories. And so, being aided by the changes in technology that have lowered the barriers to market entry, and bringing forward transparent solutions to niche needs that are not currently being met, indie brands are seeing vast success and are expected to continue to see this success as the market and consumer preferences continue to shift.