Watch 'The Reset' - Howard McLaren's Documentary on the Challenges Facing the Beauty Industry Today

Howard McLaren, past creative director of Toni & Guy and Bumble & bumble, and co-founder of R+Co, debuted his documentary, The Reset, at Luxury Brand Partner’s Front Row. He calls on industry leaders to lift the veil on the beauty industry and discuss some hard truths, like fear-based resistance to innovation and the broken and segmented system of licensing and education.

McLaren traveled across the United States interviewing stylists, students, schools, salon owners, drop outs and entrepreneurs. Over the course of his 18-month journey, he discovered incredible passion, pioneers who have adapted to a rapidly changing landscape, and an unbelievable amount of hope for what is possible with a shift in perspective.

Featuring interviews with industry titans John Paul DeJoria (Paul Mitchell, Patron Spirits), Bruno and Zak Mascolo (Toni and Guy), and Eden Sassoon (daughter of Vidal); industry innovators Franck Izquierdo (IGK), David Thurston (The Butterfly Circus), and Katie Lyn Christoffersen (Cheeky Strut); and up-and-comers like stylists Dylan Chavles and Lauryn Tullio. Entrepreneurs like Bruce Pavitt, co-founder of Subpop Records, and Wade Weigel, co-founder of the Ace Hotels and Rudy’s Barbershop, draw insightful and relevant parallels to other artist and ego-driven industries that found themselves gradually, then suddenly, disrupted. Sociologist and documentary filmmaker Dr. Gilda Sheppard discusses the restrictive power of fear—and the incredible potential for both happiness and innovation when it is overcome.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this documentary series which highlights innovative solutions to the challenges identified in The Reset.