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Oribe: Experience Top of The Class Products in Singapore
If you haven’t heard, Oribe (pronounced Or-bay), a luxe hair care line will be distributed in Singapore *this year by Kao Singapore. Founded in 2008, Daniel Kaner, along with two partners including legendary hairstylist Oribe Canales, saw an opportunity in the professional haircare category to create a brand that offered a unique, boutique perspective within the segment. Oribe is now a household brand in more than 40 countries with holy grail products in every hairdresser's kit - especially their famous Dry Texturising Spray. In 2018, Oribe was purchased by the Kao corporation joining Goldwell and KMS under the Kao Salon Division range. With similar beliefs and values, this partnership has opened new opportunities and support for the brand on a global perspective.
“Oribe is more than just a product”
As a brand with a rich story, it is important that every conversation begins with the introduction of the brand, the purpose and its ethos. Oribe President and Co-Founder, Daniel Kaner emphasised that Oribe is more than just a product, “we always talk about what’s behind the bottle, instead of leading with the bottle and selling (the product)”. The late Oribe Canales and the team never look at skin colour but at the texture of the hair as fabric and view the products as tools. As artists, it was important for Oribe that hairdressers have a unique set of products to create the looks. The brand is more than its ingredients and latest technology; from product knowledge to the packaging design, this is a brand that is passionate about every detail it produces.
So how do you get Oribe in your salon? When it comes to housing a luxury brand in a salon, you would think your salons have no chance because it doesn’t have the most luxe interior and exclusive clientele. But for Oribe, it is important that the brand is housed in a salon that represents them. “It is not about the salon that has the fanciest décor, but more to do with the spirit of the salon, the owner and the team; you want to make sure that their heart is in the right place,” says Kaner.
When looking for a partner salon, the brand is interested in salons that put a lot of thought into the salon interior that will give their customers a unique experience; one that brings in better-educated stylists into their team; provides internal education where they will continually train as an organisation; and their values are of discipline, leadership and creating something beautiful. These are businesses that Oribe admires and wants to partner with because the brand is more than simply selling hair care products, it is about building a community and having a global purpose so that we “have a better sense of self-worth”.
Although it has products sold online, Oribe assures that it will not cut your profit margin. The brand’s ultimate focus is on salons and consumers. Oribe believes in providing the perfect experiential service for customers which they cannot get online. “Even though we are in other distribution channels (online), it is very narrow because, at the end of the day, our focus is towards ensuring that the customers have the full experience in the salon,” says Kaner.
Journey to Mastery in Singapore
The Journey to Mastery program was designed to focus a stylist’s artistic lens and develop their technical skillset. The classes are taught by highly trained educators who are leaders in cutting, styling and editorial work, and the program is broken into three chapters that combine core fundamentals with editorial and aspirational techniques. And, with an international reach spanning more than 40 countries, the program provides a global platform that allows educators and stylists around the world to share their knowledge.
Built on the philosophy that the beauty is in the journey itself, The Journey to Mastery program becomes a meaningful part of an individual’s growth, elevating their approach to every client, every day. The curriculum that will be implemented in Singapore includes Product Knowledge Intensive courses, Styling classes and Signature Sessions that teach the latest techniques from recent runways that can be adapted to the salon.
Upcoming Plans for Oribe
In light of the current global situation, exciting plans had to be placed on the backburner as Oribe strives to re-establish and rebuild the global community once the international pandemic is over. At the moment, the Oribe team is busy finding solutions to assist small salon businesses around the globe to help them regain their footing. “As we take a look at our team members, partners and customers, we try to put them on the same line because there’s no one more important than the other. Hence we want to use this time to try to give hairdressers the confidence to feel more comfortable to welcome back their customers - which we can only do when we can guarantee their safety, therefore we’ll be spending a lot of time figuring this out,” assures Kaner. To help with the salons in the United States, the brand has used its online platform to their advantage. For every product that a salon customer purchase from the Oribe website, the salon owners will receive the same margin on the sale - this initiative has helped hundreds of Oribe’s existing salon network.
Additionally, the brand is continuing to release new products and recently launched a global, digital education calendar which is being offered to its salon network in lieu of in-person education classes for the time being. It’s important for the brand to continue to educate and help set clients up for success once businesses reopen. The education team has been hosting weekly live webinars and Instagram Live stories on a range of topics including styling tutorials, Q&A sessions, career and business building advice and more. They’re also offering private product knowledge classes to all global partners so that they are prepared when business resumes.
*Due to the Circuit Breaker, the launch of Oribe in Singapore has been postponed until June 2020.
