Iconic UK brand Umberto Giannini has officially arrived on Aussie shores, bringing with it a plethora of beloved products – perhaps most famously their iconic (and currently TikTok-trending) Curl Jelly.
We caught up with brand co-founder Claire Shread at the recent Sydney launch. Catch the full chat and ethos behind the brand below!
TJ: Can you take us through the origins of the brand? I’ve heard that the iconic Curl Jelly was actually created with your curls in mind.
CS: My curls were always something that had given me quite a lot of trouble in my life. These days we’ve got the products for curly hair, and it’s super fashionable now. Back then, not so much. My partner Roberto – a hairdresser – formulated the product for me, and it really is the easiest way you can look after curls.
One product, it does everything all in one go. When you put it on, when it dries, it dries like a coil and you either choose to keep the coil or you scrunch it and then it’s super soft. It’s a real wonder product. We’re super proud that it is Boots’, best-selling product in the whole personal hair care category. What has been amazing is bringing it into Australia and how many people already knew about the product.
Initially we just wanted to create product for every woman, whereas at the time, it was all about straight hair. I think that’s why we’ve got such a loyal following, because diversity has always been something that’s really important to us.
TJ: We’ve heard a lot about the brands commitment to ensuring products are cruelty free and vegan. What has influenced this decision?
CS: I’ve just always been a really big environmentalist, and we’re all about packaging and tubes/bottles are either PCR or plant based. There’s no perfect solution, of course, but it’s something we’re constantly working on all the time.
In terms of the products being vegan, that definitely stems from my own lifelong commitment to vegetarianism and veganism. We developed the brand to be vegan from the very start, but didn’t bother to put it on the tube then because nobody was interested!
That’s actually really served us well, actually, because our biggest growth demographic right now is Gen Z.
TJ: What did you wish someone had told you about founding a brand, and if you had any tips for any future business minds in the beauty space, what would they be?
CS: What I’ve seen since co-creating the brand, and really reiterated to anyone I have mentored or been in contact with, is to really test your idea. Just because you think it’s a great idea, don’t put money into it. Really test it. I think that would be my, my big tip, because there’s a lot of people with a lot of great ideas into reality. It’s, it takes a lot, but don’t be put off if you think you’ve got a great idea, I think you know that’s having the belief and finding those people to share the belief is really important.
TJ: What are the hair and beauty trends that you’re loving at the moment?
CS: Curls are a big one. It’s currently summer in the UK, so we’re running a campaign at the moment called Natural Curls Summer. People tend to go more casual with their fashion and their lifestyle in summer. Everybody just relaxes a bit in the summer
The other big trend we’ve been looking at is the focus on scalp health. We’ve had this product, a beautiful scalp scrub that uses pineapple enzymes and crushed walnut shells.
