Angela Caglia Debuts New Serum as Martin Brok Invests in Brand
Celebrity aesthetician Angela Caglia is debuting her new serum exclusively at Violet Grey, at the same time as revealing her brand has received funding from former Sephora chief executive officer Martin Brok.
Cell Forté Serum, which will be launched Oct. 2 and priced at $395, is the result of an eight-year collaboration with stem cell scientist Donna Chang, CEO of Hope Bioscience, to find stem cell technology without the controversy of embryonic stem cells or the ineffectiveness of plant stem cells, according to Caglia, whose clients include Barbra Streisand, Helena Christensen, Camila Morrone, Riley Keough and Sting.
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“We all start off as a ball of stem cells,” she explained. “And of all those cells, the mesenchymal stem cell is the superhero — it’s the one that becomes our hair, heart, bones and skin. When we are young, it regenerates our cells so wounds heal faster. As we get older, these stem cells decline. That’s where we come in. We found a way to harness ethically sourced patented protein-rich human stem cell conditioned media. It has no human DNA, but all the potent secretions of natural growth factors, exosomes, cytokines and proteins to brighten and reduce fine lines and wrinkles without disrupting the barrier.”
Violet Grey, now owned by Farfetch, will have the exclusive for six months.
“When Angela unveiled the secret serum she’d been toiling away on for years during one of her transformational facials last winter, it took me about three seconds to press her (hard!) for the exclusive,” said Sarah Brown, executive director at Violet Grey.
Sales of the serum are projected to reach $5 million over the next 12 months, according to the brand, which is developing other stock keeping units in the range.
As for the investment from Brok, the former CEO of Sephora who is now on the board of Revlon, Caglia told WWD that they were introduced by a mutual acquaintance.
“What I love about Martin is that he has such a high-level perspective on what the consumer wants and how the consumer wants to know the journey and the story,” said Caglia. “He’s also our adviser. I have monthly calls with him and we go over things and he has just really been supportive and he’s helped me quite a bit in terms of positioning the product in the big picture.”
Terms were not disclosed, although Caglia said he invested earlier this year and has since doubled that investment.
“During my professional career, I have had the privilege of working alongside some of the world’s most innovative beauty brands as they launched to market,” said Brok in a statement. “I believe that Angela Caglia, with her passion for stem cell technology, has created a novel product that is in the vanguard of medical science bringing the latest scientific knowledge to the beauty industry.”
The latest investment comes after the skin care brand closed its first funding round in March. Terms of that deal were also not shared, apart from that the round was led by a private individual.
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