Hailey Bieber wants her beauty brand, Rhode, to be “cool and attainable.”
Darian Symone HarvinZoey Grossman
On an early Monday morning, Venice Beach in Los Angeles is buzzing.
She smiles, shyly shrugs as she waves, and sits down.
We greet each other with slight familiarity.
We had talked about our love for the HBO comedy showInsecureand thoughts on the finale.
I loveIssa Rae, Bieber said at that time, and I think shes just an incredible writer.
Ive loved the show since I started it.
I felt like they gave us what they needed to give.
They showed us where everybody ended up.
Except Bieber has close to42 million Instagram followerswatching her every move.
And seems to yearn to do just that.
Photographed by Zoey Grossman.
Fashion stylist: Coco Cassibba.
Hair: Bryce Scarlett.
Makeup: Kali Kennedy.
Set design: Danielle von Braun.
Set assistant: Rebecca Morrison.
She looks up from the menu and squints at me with curiosity.
In a few days shell fly to Paris for work.
When she first started doing runway shows, it felt like an accomplishment for a five-foot-seven-inch model.
But then she realized shed rather cheer in the front row, as she does now.
I had a really bad experience with a casting director who was very important, she recalls.
He said something to my agent that just shook my confidence when it came to the runway.
So why would I even put myself in a position to feel small?
Hailey Rhode Baldwin Bieber is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and Kennya Baldwin.
Now, shes in demand as one of the most recognizable faces in fashion and pop culture.
Being a brown-haired, chisel-jawed, 25-year-old model who comfortably fits within longstanding beauty standards helps.
The blogs went crazy whenshe debuted her brown hair, a pandemic grow-out from her previous dyed blonde.
I dont color my hair anymore, she says.
I dont bleach it or anything, but I might do a gloss or a toner.
Chest-up portrait of Hailey Bieber for Allure Magazine.
She wears an off-white fishnet-style top with silver ball bearings attached.
Her hair is straight and brown; she wears minimal pink makeup.
Shes looking into the camera with a relaxed expression.
Among the things people dont always understand is her faith.
Shes had conversations with other Christians, likecomedian Yvonne Orji, about navigating the fraught entertainment industry.
Bieber attended Hillsong as a teen, but now attends Churchome, where Judah and Chelsea Smith are pastors.
(Over 15 million people watched hermake mac and cheese there with Kendall Jenner.)
Her Get Ready With Me videos, some shot in her home glam room, are also massively popular.
Bieber was born in the bone-dry state of Arizona.
Her maternal grandmother was a makeup artist, so beauty was a generational lesson.
It started with my grandmother, she taught my mom, my mom taught me.
This authenticity might be the coolest thing about Bieber.
It is the byproduct of that process that the public ultimately sees and latches onto.
But the internal work to figure out your compass is much harder.
I definitely had my fears because the market is so saturated.
It would be exhausting for me to give a shot to control everything, she says.
Theres just no way I can do that.
Shes had the best aestheticians anddermatologistsat her fingertips to ensure great skin.
Givenchy top and skirt.
Tiffany & Co. necklace.
Nail lacquer in Pompeii Purple by OPI.
Each lent insight on how they went about establishing their brands.
And then I was able to say, Okay, well, [Kim] did it that way.
Jen Atkin did it this way.
But what they do have is access to the funds needed to realize their dream.
The pandemic amplified that reputation for resiliency and left consumers fatigued by the number of new brand launches.
There are incubators that may specialize, to a degree, in shaping beauty brands driven by public faces.
The celebritys strength, their established followers, is what these companies are banking on.
Bieber has built an audience of millions across social media platforms.
I talked to different investment firms, Bieber says.
Rhode is funded by a smallpool of investors, including One Luxury Group.
I definitely have had my fears, for sure, because the market is so busy and so saturated.
Through her own research, Bieber formed a notion of what people were mostly looking for:hydration.
I was ordering crazy amounts of skin care, trying everything that was expensive to inexpensive to mid-range.
(All of the Rhode products are under $30.)
The initial launch focuses on maintaining the skins moisture barrier.
Bieber began working on Rhode two and a half years ago.
She took dermatology courses online as an entryway to exploration, but becoming askin-care expertovernight wasnt on her agenda.
It wasnt for me to be able to just sound smart or know what Im talking about.
I was just genuinely interested.
Will all of this be enough to ensure success?
Im really happy with everything, says Bieber.
I feel proud of the products that are going to come out.
I feel excited for what is going to come even after that and what I can continue to develop.
Im hoping that people get their hands on it and they absolutely love it.
But if they have feedback, I want to accept that as well.
Biebers biggest hope for Rhode is that someone might pick it up and not know its her brand.
That would be my dream, for it to actually surprise people.
