L’Oreal was created 105 years ago, in 1909 in Paris by Eugene Schueller. Its first business was selling coloration directly to Parisian hairdressers. That is why the hairdressers and the hair industry were at the heart of L’Oreal

Posted : 2014-03-23 13:46

Updated : 2014-03-23 19:19

L’Oreal to boost hairdressing as growth engine

By Sebastien Emond
L’Oreal was created 105 years ago, in 1909 in Paris by Eugene Schueller. Its first business was selling coloration directly to Parisian hairdressers. That is why, from the beginning, the hairdressers and the hair industry were at the heart of L’Oreal.
The hairdressing business is mainly unknown to stakeholders. With the help of DBR, L’Oreal decided to publish a hairdressing report in Korea.
This report already exists in European countries and China. Its mission is to give a better understanding of the amazing market and industry, of its main actors and of its potential and impact in the economic and social sphere of a country.
Evolution of Korean hairdressing
The hairdressing industry in Korea has a history. In 1933, a lady who studied hairdressing in Japan opened the first hair salon and introduced the permanent wave to Korea. Since then, permed hair started gaining popularity.
Starting from 1948, people who opened a hair salon needed to have a hairdresser license. In the 1950s and 1960s, women increasingly became interested in hairstyles and the social standing of hair designers was enhanced.
Since the mid-1980s, when overseas travel was fully liberalized, more and more hairdressers began to take part in international hair shows and had the opportunity to learn aesthetic techniques at Vidal Sassoon or Toni & Guy in the U.K.
Korea’s aesthetic techniques were further upgraded in line with the growing economy. During this period, hair mousse and gel were introduced, leading to the popularity of high bangs. The perm wave was also further diversified.
Beginning in the 1990s, diverse styles co-existed — pursuing one’s own personality and hair coloring became popular and more male customers began visiting hair salons rather than barbershops. Franchise shops of renowned beauty salons began to open and overseas brands such as Jacques Dessange launched in Korea
If Lee Ga-ja, Yoo Ji-seung, Marshal, Park Seung-chul, Park Joon and Lee Chul in the 1970s and the 1980s were the first generation to open the era of beauty salons here, the 1990s was the era when the second generation-hair designers, who gained fame with makeup and styling for celebrities, were born .
The second generation opened beauty salons focusing on weddings and celebrities by supplementing hairdressing and their strategies aimed at the high-class or career women, by offering premium services and a differentiated price policy, called the “Chungdam-dong style.”
In the 2000s, hair designers who worked for the second generation leaders began to open their own shops. Hyun Tae of Ra Beauty Core is one of the members representing the third generation.]

Market overview
According to Kantar Worldpanel, the total sales for hairdressing reached 2.5 trillion won in 2011, when the number of hair salons totaled 81,600 across the nation with 148,121 employees. The number of hair salons and hairdressers increased by 2.5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, compared to 2009.
From a macroeconomic prospective, the beauty industry has significant economical ripple effects. Compared to other industries, it has a high added-value inducement effect due to its production activity.
As a labor-intensive industry, it also has a high employment inducement effect. It contributes considerably to boosting domestic demand via employment and the Korea Employment Information Service projects that manpower requirements of the beauty industry will continue to increase.
In particular, the beauty industry is a primary career for women. Women in the skin and hair field comprise more than 90 percent of the workers. The reason the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family supports this business so avidly is because it attempts to improve women’s employment, as high female employment boosts the birthrate and domestic economy.
Apart from boosting the domestic economy, the beauty industry is also assessed as an export item with a high competitive edge. This is because Korean people have excellent beauty treatment skills. Currently, some salons are operating in foreign countries and overseas operations are on the increase.
On the other hand, relevant educational institutions are on the increase as well. As of 2009, departments related to the beauty industry were run by 22 high schools, 98 colleges and 25 four-year universities across the country, which continue to produce masters and doctors in this field.
In addition, salons and wholesalers are taking part in the distribution of hair care products and consequently, distribution is playing an important role in the hair care industry.
Cosmetics and beauty treatment devices are part of manufacturing and if the ties between manufacturing and service industries were to be boosted, it could create significant added value, suggesting the potential of hairdressing as a new-growth engine.
Currently the hottest issue in the hairdressing industry is hallyu hair. Growing interest in Korean celebrity looks in China, Japan and Southeast Asian countries serves as a favorable factor to the domestic hairdressing business.
Beauty service, when developed as tourist or export content, will contribute to attracting foreign tourists or pave the way into overseas markets.
Market analysis
Recent data shows 98 percent of women visit beauty salons 4.7 times a year. It also shows 50.6 percent of Korean women wash their hair once a day, mostly in the morning. The majority of women reportedly have 2.5 hair products on average, including shampoo and conditioner.
More and more men have been developing an interest in hair care since the 1990s. Male customers, from young to middle aged, have routinely received various skin, hair and scalp care services. According to the research on 257 unmarried men in their 20s and 30s, 60 percent responded that their appearance has had an effect on social activities.
Among them, 37.2 percent of them answered they would invest in obesity care and physical exercise, 25.7 percent would spend on skin care and 13.5 percent would do so for hair care services, including hair loss treatment and 36.2 percent said they would spend 100,000 to 300,000 won a month for such purposes.
The hairdressing market continues to grow in line with people’s emphasis on spending on appearance. In 2012, the market continued its two-digit growth by marking a 14 percent growth. In particular, the hair color-related market grew by 27 percent, driving an overall growth.
That said, it seems salons need to continue to pay attention to perms, which account for half of the total market. The perm market grew by 11 percent in the same period. Though the scalp care market remains relatively small, it shows great potential, marking a 33-percent growth.
Hairdressing profession
L’Oreal’s Professional Products Division has a key role to play in this industry. The company’s main mission is to become the best partner for all hairdressers, helping them in their everyday lives to develop their business.
Each of L’Oreal’s two brands present in Korea has its own values and goals. L’Oreal Professionnel brings tailor-made services with cutting edge technologies that enable hairdressers to achieve highly fashionable and in-trend looks to bring out the beauty in all women and men.
Kerastase, which is a premium hair care brand of L’Oreal, is developing its core values, performance, expertise and personalization in an effort to become a standard in luxury hair care and be the most professional and leading brand in the fields of in-salon hair and scalp care.
Hair dressers should have an artistic perspective as well as be a professional who is able to analyze the unique appearance and silhouette of an individual and furthermore have a vision that enables people to look more attractive.
In addition, they should always be creative with any customer and pursue beauty as an artist at all times. Hair dressers at the top of the tree are recognized as professionals in various fields such as beauty training, fashion shows, movies and TV, and do their utmost to develop the industry.
L’Oreal also advertises the top hair dressing masters by being involved in fashion and trend-related events hosted across the world. Through their talents and techniques, hair stylists of L’Oreal Professional Paris are always at the backstage of major international fashion week events, from Paris, New York, Milan, London, Berlin, Tokyo to Seoul.
To keep up with global developments, L’Oreal Professional Paris took part in Seoul Fashion Week last autumn as the official sponsor of Asia Generation Next, to assist emerging designers in opening the show as well as harmonize fashion with hair.
Role of hairdressers and L’Oreal
L’Oreal Professionnel Paris has 355 academies worldwide where 2,500 educators train 4,000 trainee hairdressers every day. The academies in Korea consist of 18 technicians from two brands — L’Oreal Professionnel Paris and Keratase — where they took product development tests and technique training. They are located in the five major cities of Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, Busan and Gwangju.
L’Oreal Professional Academy offers hair dressers training opportunities where instructors transfer expertise. Workshops developed by training experts based on continuous study provide the true opportunity of sharing information and experience. L’Oreal Professionnel’s philosophy is that sharing leads to success.
Keratase is providing various training programs. Participants can act as ambassadors when they complete all the programs within the essential seminar level. And they earn the title of “Keratase specialist” with a completion diploma if they also complete advanced and masters levels. Through various steps of Keratase’s training programs, hairdressers can become Keratase specialists.
L’Oreal’s mission and responsibility 
Since 1909, L’Oreal’s technology has been helping hairdressers around the world create new values. L’Oreal Professionnel will render continuous efforts to satisfy all customer demands in the fields of styling, care and dyeing, and will create new fashion trends. To this end, high-technology products are expected to be essential.
Keratase suggests personalized beauty care according to customers’ various hair and scalp problems. Keratase is a brand developed by L’Oreal Advanced Research Center and Keratase’s product performance is distinguished from other products by effective activators and a high-tech complex system, fascinating texture formula and scientific research.
For its effectiveness, the Paris Evaluation Center tests products with 60 beauty experts and 8,000 testers.
At the beginning of this year, both brands came with two amazing innovations that will present significant opportunities for hairdressers in recruiting and keeping loyal consumers by best fulfilling their expectations.
Future of hairdressing
Korea’s hairdressing market continues to grow in line with the country’s well-being trend, people’s increasing investment in taking care of their appearance and the expansion of the hallyu-related business, and is being developed into a new-growth engine.
According to Euromonitor in 2009, Korea ranked 14th globally in terms of expenditure of personal care, overtaking Australia and the Netherlands. Along the way, the spread of hallyu has brought forth high interest in the appearance of Korean celebrities across China, Japan and East Asian countries.
It seems that the local hairdressing industry should take advantage of this trend. If the beauty industry were to be developed for tourism and export content, it would allow the industry to enter into overseas markets.
The hair industry has a beautiful future. And it is the mission of L’Oreal’s Professional Products Division to play its role as a true partner, through innovation, inspiration and education, offering the best to clients and consumers.