Early-bird Special

While the Beauty Inc Awards Breakfast officially started just before sunrise on Dec. 7, the early hour didn’t deter the movers and shakers in attendance from socializing. Those on hand to celebrate the year’s innovation, launches and industry leaders included William Lauder, Jane Hertzmark Hudis and Stéphane de la Faverie from the Estée Lauder Cos., Ulta Beauty’s Dave Kimbell, Pat McGrath and Hailey Bieber, whose superstar husband raised his hands in a cheer as she accepted her award. Also there — Trinny Woodall, who jetted in from London to accept Product of the Year honors for her launch into skin care, and Pete Born Impact Award honoree Jo Horgan, the founder and co-chief executive officer of Mecca. The Australian-based retailer has flourished since Horgan created it 25 years ago — becoming Australia’s largest prestige beauty retailer and doubling its business during the last three years of the pandemic. With results like that, little wonder Horgan was in a celebratory mood. “I look at the beauty industry and we have this incredible privilege of being able to make people feel fantastic and confident,” she said, accepting her award. “This is an industry where impact is given in small dollops on a daily basis to customer after customer, where we get to empower women to take on increasingly senior roles. We get to fund females entrepreneurs to create their own businesses, and we get to contribute to the community in lots of different philanthropic ways. That, to me, is impact.”