How Defiant Iman Built a $25 Million Beauty Empire

Model make-up: After nearly two-decades modelling, and mixing foundation formulations for make-up artists, Iman launched her beauty line in 1994

'I didn’t understand that it was if they have 1,000 doors, only 200 are for women of color,' she said.

Retailers then tried to place her products at the back of their stores, which they see as the 'ethnic section'."It was a no-go. They wanted me to be placed at the back, which they considered, like it is, for the ethnic section, which I was totally against."

And despite her soaring sales, she admitted that trying to secure distribution has been a challenge for both brick-and-mortar and online stores.


"I approached the players - Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens - and everybody knew about the brand and how successful it was, so everybody said yes to it," she began."But then there was this, "Oh we’ll test it." Like I had just started, like there was no customer base for it."

Iman Cosmetics: Focusing on difficult-to-find shades for ethnic women, the supermodel's company has become a $25million business, despite skeptical retailers

Since retailers would not agree to put her products with the rest of their makeup, most of Iman's business is now conducted online. However because women like to look at makeup, and test it before they buy it,having an e-commerce-based sales model for any cosmetics brand will stunt growth.

Iman says she knows this, and would like it to be different, because "customers need to be serviced," she said. If only the retailers understood it. "I have customers from all over the world that look for the products, but I also have customers in the U.S. that can’t find the product in a store near them."

While Iman Cosmetics sells products any woman can use, such as lipstick, mascara and eyeliner, her foundation, a challenging category for many women of color, accounts for 75 percent of her overall sales.