In LA, Replica Handbag Store Club’s Meet the Founder Series Returned With Topicals' Olamide Olowe

Olomide Olowe. Photo by Nesrin Danan.

This past weekend in LA, Replica Handbag Store Club returned for its spring installment of Meet The Founder with Topicals' Olamide Olowe. Guests gathered at the West Hollywood Edition for a celebratory brunch followed by an insightful conversation about Olowe's entrepreneurial journey as a young Black woman breaking into the beauty industry. Alongside Replica Handbag Store Club members, party-goers included Jacques Agbobly, Christine Quinn, Cora Delaney, and British Vogues Julia Hobbs. The fête featured an editor-curated playlist, an assortment of breakfast bites, endless mimosas, and florals by Bia Blooms with a color palette inspired by Topicals' packaging.

"One thing about me is I am not scared. I'm going to jump into things head first and figure the rest out later," Olamide Olowe told Vogue.

Olamide started as an entrepreneur in 2015 when she co-founded the beauty brand SheaGIRL in partnership with SheaMoisture, which was later acquired by Unilever in 2017. Now at just 26 years old, Olamide Olowe has already become a Forbes 30 under 30 inductee and created the fastest-growing skincare brand at Sephora. Olowe's desire to found her brand stemmed from her own experience struggling with skincare conditions while growing up as a teen in El Paso and not finding the resources and products she really needed. "A couple of stats that encouraged me to address the market gap for skin conditions is: one in four Americans lives with a chronic skin condition such as eczema, psoriasis, hyperpigmentation, or acne. Around 50% of dermatologists and residents said their medical school training didn't prepare them to treat skin of color. In addition, 75% of clinical trial participants are white, which means the vast majority of products on the market haven't been tested for safety or efficacy on darker skin tones."

In addition to skin care, Olowe is focused on mental health (via financial support to advocacy organizations) and inspiring fellow entrepreneurs. "I love the concept of doing well by doing good {with your business}," Olowe told Vogue. Her anti-gatekeeping philosophy led her to create her upcoming project, The Cost of Doing Business, an online resource to share her approach to launching projects. 

"I believe your gift is not for you, but instead it's for someone else to be inspired to become who they're meant to be," Olowe told Vogue, referencing women like Serena Williams and Emma Grede, who inspired her to pursue her own passions and turn them into an ever-growing enterprise.