On July 20, JVN Hair, the brand founded by “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness, will launch at Ulta Beauty both online and in approximately 700 stores, about half of the retailer’s locations.
JVN Hair was originally incubated in partnership with Amyris, the biotech company and beauty incubator best known for incubating the skin-care brand Biossance. But Amyris declared bankruptcy in August 2023, and in December 2023, the private equity firm Windsong Global acquired JVN Hair at auction for $1.25 million. Van Ness took an equity stake, as well.
But the brand is — perhaps against all odds — bouncing back.
In fact, JVN Hair has been profitable in its last two quarters, said Teresa Lo, JVN Hair’s president. To Van Ness, the brand’s mere existence is a win. “Not only do we exist, but we are growing,” Van Ness said.
The past year and a half have been a whirlwind, they said. “I felt so paralyzed and embarrassed. We went from being the fastest-growing hair-care company in the country [per 2022 Google Search data] to our parent company filing for bankruptcy to not even knowing if we would exist anymore, in the space of, like, a year,” they said. But now, the brand is 4 years old, which, Van Ness pointed out, is “actually old” for a celebrity-founded brand.
“The rug got pulled out from under us,” Van Ness said. “Bankruptcy truly is a gnarly experience. … When you’ve built a business with someone, and you put your trust in someone, and they don’t pay you, and they don’t pay your vendors, it takes a hit to your reputation and people’s desire to want to be in business with you. … Hillary [Clinton] used to talk about how [Donald Trump] doesn’t pay his contractors — I didn’t understand what she meant until I was one of the contractors that didn’t get paid [by a parent company].”
Recently, Van Ness has also been leaning into TikTok Shop, where JVN Hair’s sales have also been growing. The brand, Lo said, has seen 10x sales growth across all sales points, including Sephora, since it started focusing on TikTok Shop at the start of this year. As Lo said, “It’s all about driving awareness. A rising tide will lift all ships. A lot of the brands that are killing it on TikTok are also doing well at their partner retailers.”
Now, it’s time for the brand to expand its IRL retail presence. “Sephora has been an incredible partner. We launched with them. [But] Sephora has very different distribution in the U.S. [than Ulta does], and there are a lot of cities and states that we haven’t been able to reach,” Lo said. “Jonathan is from the Midwest [in Illinois]. I’m from Texas. We are not from L.A. and New York, where a majority of our Sephora doors are. … A majority of our community members are not shopping online. They still want to go into stores, and they want to meet Jonathan.”
Van Ness added, “When you say, like, Idaho and Kentucky, … Why am I crying in an interview?”
The brand’s launch at Ulta Beauty will increase its representation in states including Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia and Alabama.
In addition to Sephora and TikTok Shop, JVN Hair is available on Amazon and its own DTC site, as well as in select salons across the country.
Van Ness is currently touring the country with a comedy show, which has opened their eyes to the need for the brand they have created in more states. “There’s a need for queer people and allies, and just for people to have exposure to queer things in red spaces. … People think about it as just representation, and that’s important. But there are also a lot of queer consumers in these spaces who want brands that reflect their values,” they said.
To celebrate its Ulta debut, JVN Hair is hosting a series of masterclasses in cities that generally receive less marketing attention. Across Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and Los Angeles, Van Ness will host seven masterclasses. “Ulta is leaning into a lot more in-store events,” Los said. “And that’s something we know we do better than anyone else.” Tickets, which cost $35, can be purchased on Eventbrite. According to the brand, the price of tickets will be made up in hair products — guests will receive a gift card to use toward a full-size JVN product of their choice, as well as a gift bag. The brand will promote the masterclass series via its social channels.
The brand’s launch event celebrating its presence at Ulta will be in Chicago — it is inviting Ulta’s entire C-suite and local media to celebrate. “Ulta does carry a lot of hair brands already, but what they don’t have is Jonathan Van Ness, a professional hairstylist leading a brand with such an incredible community,” Lo said.
Also on July 20, JVN Hair will sponsor Celebrate U, an internal celebration of its top stylists across its partner salons nationwide. Van Ness will be the host of the event and will have the chance to showcase the brand’s products, provide tips and tricks, and introduce the brand to the stylists during the same week it hits Ulta’s shelves. After all, the stylists “will be the best brand ambassadors for our success in Ulta,” Lo said.
