NRF 2025 Retail’s Big Show daily recap: The business of authenticity

US – Day two of NRF 2025 Retail’s Big Show began with a keynote entitled The Business of Authenticity from Tracee Ellis Ross, actor and founder of Pattern Beauty. While Pattern Beauty does not label itself as a celebrity beauty brand, Ross acknowledged the advantages of having a founder and CEO with ‘access at certain tables’ and revealed how she wants to use this to create a purpose-led brand that celebrates Black beauty.

When Pattern first agreed to its deal with Ulta Beauty, Ross learned of reports of racial profiling in stores. She likened this experience to ‘selling ice cubes and finding out the place I want to sell at keeps its temperature at 90 degrees’. The actor called her contacts at Ulta and used it as an opportunity to help both businesses grow and learn more about their customers. Speaking about the future, Ross hinted that Pattern may expand beyond haircare. Our Future Forecast 2025 macrotrend highlighted the momentum of Textured Haircare.

In 2024, NRF named American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger as The Visionary 2025. At the following keynote at Monday’s conference, Hilfiger reminisced on his strategy of building a brand universe with a focus on FAME (fashion, art, music, entertainment and sport). First opened in 1969, Hilfiger’s original People’s Place stores were spaces to enjoy art and music as much as fashion, and led the way for the wave of Third Space Retail we see today.

Also emphasising the importance of bricks-and-mortar retail, Sephora CEO Artemis Patrick later announced that the beauty retailer plans to update every store globally over the next five years. Sephora will introduce a more modular design, allowing stores to evolve alongside consumer habits and technological developments. While many businesses leave store design up to designers, Patrick stressed the importance of consumer-centric design and is using heat maps, productivity tests and beauty trend forecasting to help inform the design. Our analysis of World Retail Congress 2024 previously analysed Sephora's hyperphysical retail strategy.