Zara Officially Enters the Haircare Space—With Help From Guido Palau
Late last year, Zara officially entered the haircare space with two bold, golden hair products that were perfect for the holidays. But that drop, named Glitter in Gold, was just a sneak peak—because Zara is now building up its haircare foundation with a range of six products to launch on Monday, March 4th on Zara.com, created in collaboration with world-renowned hairstylist Guido Palau. “I want to provide the Zara customer with the staples,” he tells W over Zoom. “These are like the white t-shirt and sneakers of your hair routine. They’re the basics in your wardrobe that you want and need.”
The choice to work with Palau on this line, named the Everyday Basics, was likely an obvious one for Zara. The British stylist knows hair. He boasts an impressive résumé that includes work on George Michael’s supermodel-studded “Freedom! ’90” music video, a stint as a creative consultant at Redken, and collaborations with every brand from Ralph Lauren to Alexander McQueen. But Palau also knows the Zara customer; he’s been working with the Spanish fashion brand for over two decades. So when it came time to design a line of hair products for the global brand, he knew universality was the way to go.
“These weren’t designed for insiders,” Palau says of the products, which are each priced at $22.90. “They’re very easy to use.” Over the years, Palau has discussed with his clientele what they desire when it comes to haircare—and he has found a universal distaste for products that overperform. “This hairspray is not going to leave your hair feeling sticky and tacky,” he adds. “The mousse will create the volume, but there’s a softness to it. The blow-dry spray will give you shine and calm your flyaways, but it’s not overly heavy.”
Not only are the products straightforward, but the packaging is as well. Bottles designed by Baron & Baron boast bright, clashing colors that will stand out on your bathroom shelves, and the easily digestible names mean you never have to question a product’s purpose. “We did, at one point, consider exaggerated names for the products, but at the end of the day, we didn’t want to overcomplicate it,” Palau says. Altogether, the Hair Balm, Dry Texturizing Spray, Curl Activator, Blow Dry Spray, Volumizing Mousse, and Hair Spray make for the perfect hair kit, according to Palau. “There’s not one of these that I could really do without,” he says. “They work as an ensemble.”
Now that the basics are making their way onto Zara’s shelves, Palau can turn his attention to more capsule collections—like the Glitter in Gold products from last year. Palau and Zara plan to release more of what they call “makeup for your hair” in response to beauty trends as they form in real time. While Palau wouldn’t reveal too much about the next drop, he hinted that it would come out in the next few months, and aid in summer hairstyling. Products to combat the heat and humidity, perhaps? We’ll have to wait and see.
