It’s a new chapter for Lashify’s Sahara Lotti, who opens her first store in coveted Melrose Place in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Her aim was to make the physical space, at 860 square feet, a natural extension of the brand’s existing aesthetic. With 604 patents worldwide and an innovator in the luxury DIY lash category, Lashify saw sales grow from $67 million in 2022 to slightly more than $80 million in 2023.
“When I created Lashify, I sat there and very strategically made decisions,” Lotti said of launching the California-based company in 2016. “One was, why does DIY have to be cheesy? To me, DIY is sexy. It’s empowering. It’s the difference between knowing how to speak the language and needing a translator….I wanted to create something that was empowering, that allowed you to not feel at the mercy of somebody else, for your own self-esteem and good looks, but also something that was built really well and sexy. And I thought about the way that the packaging feels in your hand, the way you open it. So, what I wanted was the store to be the exact vibe of that experience, which was bougie, high-quality but also easy to use, personable.”
The front of the shop is “a jewel box,” black and sleek with a boudoir-like feel, while the back is the lab — LashifyLabs, to be exact. “Back there is where we’re geeking out and mixing formulas,” Lotti said.
She tapped architectural designer and builder Craig Maldonado to bring her vision to life; featuring shiny, black epoxy floors, the decor showcases marble-topped display fixtures with bronze panels and cobalt glass details. The walls have crown molding with board and batten paneling.
There’s a second-floor mezzanine, with hanging Tom Dixon lights, where shoppers are invited to build their Lashify Control Kit. Upstairs will also house a lounge for the brand’s VIPs as part of its membership program, X — a community of 130,000 shoppers who receive special perks for $150 a year.
“It’s touched so many different types of people,” Lotti said of consumers. “We’ve got a ton of celebrities obviously, but we have police officers, attorneys, dentists, hygienists, women that are in their 80s, women who are 18.”
But it’s also deeper, she added. She’s witnessed the power of lashes, helping to empower women managing disorders and mental health issues: “We have customers that were in massive depressions and put these lashes on and suddenly felt pretty again. Agoraphobics that never left their houses, got the lashes and left their houses. Girls that have trichotillomania [the hair-pulling disorder].”
While unveiling the store, Lotti is also introducing her first product outside lashes: Flush, a buildable cheek blush stick ($32) that’s pH activated and available in one hue. Made in Italy, it’s an homage to the “no-makeup-makeup” look, Lotti said.
And it’s made for everyone, she added: “the darkest, darkest skin tone or the lightest, lightest skin tone.”
Lotti has a lip product coming next, with all goods available at lashify.com and in-store at the Lashify Melrose Place boutique.
Source: WWD