In 2008, Adrian Norris co-founded Australian luxury womenswear brand Aje with Edwina Forest, building it into one of the most beloved labels by ‘It Girls’ and on an upward trajectory as it slowly expands overseas. Now, Norris has just unveiled a new skincare and wellness brand Ikkari, which he has spent the last five years slowly working on in the background. Featuring nearly 100 products spanning skincare, ingestibles and aromatherapy, it’s the accumulation of Norris’ passion for natural products and health and wellness.  Retail Beauty chats with Adrian about the driving force behind launching Ikkari, the challenges he’s discovered within the skincare industry and his plans for the brand in the future.

Why did you decide to enter the skincare category and how would you describe what the market looks like right now?

I decided to enter the skincare category as part of my overall holistic health journey. I am a firm believer in the synergistic link between body, mind and spirit and the understanding of what goes in your body is just as important as what you put on your body. That’s why I developed Ikkari with three pillar categories – Inner, Outer and Aura – so customers could address their individual needs with ease and to highlight the importance of addressing all three of these areas holistically.

One of the driving reasons behind why I decided to start Ikkari was because my friends and family were coming to me for advice on all things health and wellness. They knew how much time and effort I had put into educating myself in this area and like me, found the industry so daunting and overwhelming. I realised that if my friends and family were struggling to navigate the information that’s out there, my customer would be too.

Ikkari streamlines the consumer journey, to allow my customers to make informed, educated decisions that empower them. Everyone is on a different journey, whether they’re just curious about holistic health or they’re an expert.

What do you think modern customers are looking for from their skincare products?

It’s becoming more and more apparent that the wider industry has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to transparency and ingredients.  I am passionate in the belief that our best and highest selves can only be achieved when we eliminate as many toxins from our daily lives as possible. That’s why I took the approach to formulate Ikkari products using the best possible technologies to ensure efficiency and efficacy. We utilise global-leading extraction methods to ensure our plant extracts function exactly the same way in our formulas as they do in the plant.

We also spent a lot of time during the research and development phase of the business sourcing packaging that was as readily recyclable to the consumer as possible. I am proud to say that 94 per cent of our launch range is kerbside recyclable (by weight). For the remaining 6 per cent of the packaging that can’t be easily recycled at kerbside, or for customers who aren’t sure, we offer an Ikkari Recycling Program in all Aje Athletica doors where customers can return their empty packaging in exchange for a voucher towards their next purchase.

We have also teamed up with Waste Revolution to secure a Plastic Neutral Certification – a process that took us six months to achieve. In the not-too-distant future, we will launch refills for a selection of our products to ensure we continue to work towards minimising our environmental impact. Sustainability is hugely important to me and at the core of the business. We will continue to invest in this area as the brand continues to grow.

What are some of the challenges that you’ve discovered within the skincare category?

Countering the wider belief that skincare is just about topicals and what you apply to your skin. At Ikkari, we firmly believe that skincare is holistic.  It’s not just about topicals, or what you apply to your skin, it’s not just what you eat or the ingestibles you take, it’s not just about lifestyle, or movement, or the rituals you practise. It is the whole entire ecosystem of how we actually function. It’s where our concept of Inner, Outer and Aura came from.

From a business perspective, one of the biggest challenges I have faced – and I am sure many skincare brands face too – is around packaging and offering consumers the most environmentally-conscious options. It is considerably more expensive and time consuming for businesses to avoid plastic and other, non-recyclable materials.

There’s also a lot of innovation that needs to take place in this field which has not yet been done. Despite this, I am proud of the work we have done to date and know there is still more to do. We are committed to people, planet and prosperity and have put a robust plan in place to do better. We proudly refer to our sustainability guidelines as The Ikkari Responsibility Charter, where we will share our progress, pledge to create noticeable change and minimise our impact [on the planet].

Ikkari is currently stocked in 15 Aje Athletica stores in Australia and New Zealand, but tell me about your bricks-and-mortar plans for the brand.

We have just reached the milestone of one month of trade. After five years of research, planning and development to bring Ikkari to life, it is something to celebrate! However, we have innovative and exciting new products in development as well as standalone bricks-and-mortar stores.

Ikkari will open its flagship in Noosa later this year, with more standalone retail in the pipeline. I started Aje in Noosa two doors down from the location where Ikkari will be, so when the opportunity came up to secure another site, I knew it was the perfect location.  Noosa is my home, it’s where I retreat to – it’s a place that encompasses the Ikkari philosophy and I can’t wait to bring it to life.

Meanwhile, the future of holistic health and skin care services is incredibly exciting and it’s something we hope to encapsulate at Ikkari in the future, as we build out our bricks-and-mortar spaces.

How would you describe how the skincare industry has evolved in recent years and what do you think is driving that?

Transparency. Thanks to the Internet and social media, consumers are much more savvy about what they are putting on their skin and what they’re willing to ingest. This has really spurred the wider industry to be transparent and it’s great to see how businesses are shedding light on their formulations and practices for consumers to make informed decisions that suit their lives and lifestyle.

We built Ikkari with transparency at its core, which is why we publish all of our ingredients and packaging materials for our customers to see. It is also why we created The Good Book – a complimentary quarterly publication for our customer, dedicated to education and showcasing different methods of achieving their higher self.

Jo-Anne Hui-Miller is Content and Insights Director at retail strategy and innovation agency, The General Store.

This article was first published in the Winter issue of Retail Beauty:

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