Two young women are changing the luxury extension business by switching up their approach to hair.
While it’s becoming commonplace for celebrities and vendors to have their own extension line, Jalena and Jazmine Gillett (19 and 21 years old, respectively) have decided to go beyond the online boutique world and open physical shops in Michigan with their AmoraRenae Collection.
With celebrity stylists such as TokyoStylez (Lil Kim and Kylie Jenner’s trusted hairstylist) using hair from their collection in units, the two have become hairstylists’ best kept secret for affordable yet quality locks.
After taking an interest in hair during high school, the two women struggled with finding extensions that were affordable yet of the highest quality, and decided to go into business for themselves.
“A lot of girls our age were experimenting with styles or wanted their hair done for different events, and just couldn’t afford quality hair,” said Jazmine. “That’s where we saw a market: young women wanting to buy luxury extensions but not break the bank.”
After finding their target audience, the two decided to go into business to provide their peers and other young adults their age with affordable tresses.
“It was easy to get an audience: word of mouth was important. We started with only $1000 and did a lot of research to get the best prices and best quality,” said Jalena. From there, the AmoraRenae Collection was born and began to blossom. While they gained traction online, they were determined to not be a fly-by-night-business.
“We really studied the industry to see what we should be paying attention to as far as style trends and the latest in hair care, and wanted to offer that to our clients.”
After a successful run online, the two decided to invest in their business even more by opening physical shops in Detroit and Eastpointe Michigan.
“We expanded beyond hair and began to create and sell hair care products. Gels, sprays; we have a full Pro Hair Care Line that has about 10 different kind of maintenance products.”
Though they built their business from the ground up, when asked how they plan to stay relevant in an industry where there are so many distributors and boutiques, the two had this to say:
“We provide quality all around from the hair to the haircare. We’re also very active in engaging with our audience, going to hair shows, and holding events at our store. We plan to open stores across the globe and expand the business. It’s about more than making money. It’s about making sure women are confident with their hair and also that they treat it with care.”
