Los Angeles has always been the beating heart of beauty, a place where creativity, technology, celebrity and business converge to create a path that others follow. While that still holds true today, what’s also undeniable is the turmoil the market is also experiencing. From the devastating wildfires to uncertainty about the economy, businesses are facing one of the most complex environments in recent memory.
At the 2025 WWD LA Beauty Forum, themed Room to Grow: Finding Opportunity in Uncertainty, we’ll help point the way forward, analyzing how brands are embracing ambiguity as a springboard for creativity, resilience, reinvention — and even growth.
You’ll hear from some of today’s most dynamic founders, Jerrod Blandino and Jeremy Johnson, the founders of Too Faced whose latest brand, Polite Society, has broken through a cluttered landscape, and model-turned-entrepreneur Molly Sims, whose YSE Beauty has quickly become a skin care staple. Malena Higuera of Noyz, Denée Pearson of NYX Professional Makeup and Priscilla Tsai of Cocokind will share how they’ve leveraged the power of community to out-influence the influencers, and Tower 28’s Amy Liu and Rizos Curls’, Julissa Prado will talk about harnessing their communities for the greater good.
Serial entrepreneurs Victoria Jackson and Alli Web are joining us to talk about identifying white space opportunity, and we’ll explore the convergence of health, well-being and esthetics with Dr. Ellie Byun, Dr. Julius Few and registered nurse Vanessa Lee. Summer Fridays co-founder Lauren Ireland will join the brand’s president, Kim Natale, to talk about creating a successful relationship between founder and operator, and beauty’s hottest young founders —Mara Rozak of RŌZ, Mary Phillips of m.ph, Courtney Claghorn of Sugared + Bronzed, and Yanghee Paik of Rael.
We’ll be announcing more speakers in the days to come, and hope that you are able to join us on Monday, October 6 at The Maybourne in Beverly Hills, for what promises to be an informative and productive day of content and networking. I look forward to seeing you there!
Jenny B. Fine
Editor in Chief, Beauty Inc
Executive Editor, Beauty, WWD
