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In November, model Madison Headrick introduced her brand, Care.e.on (pronounced ‘keep on’), to the UK market. Edward Enninful, editor-in-chief of British Vogue, is a close friend of Headrick’s and introduced her to the magazine’s editors. The resulting brand story gave it an unusual jump-start on international sales. Care.e.on is currently available exclusively on the DTC website.
Headrick, 29, was first scouted for modeling at age 14, while shopping at a Walmart in her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Since then, modeling has taken her all over the world. That lifestyle of an international model inspired her brand, she said.
Four months after launching Care.e.on, which she is self-funding, Headrick is now spending more time promoting it in the United States. To bring the brand to life locally, Headrick turned to Kimberly Steinberg, founder of KSVP, an LA-based branding, marketing and product development agency.
Initially, Headrick said, she wanted to see how much traction the brand could gain on its own before bringing in a PR firm. Considering she has 538,000 Instagram followers and has worked in fashion for half her life, the answer was: a good amount. She sent the brand’s debut package to her own circle of friends. Celebrities and influencers including Nicky Hilton, Lily Aldridge, Simon Huck, and Ashley Benson have since posted about it. The additional PR game included further donations, plus pitches to the media.
While the general idea for the brand came from Headrick’s work travels, the pandemic presented an opportunity to actually get to work, she said. “I’ve always wondered why something like this didn’t exist,” Headrick said, referring to the beauty of the brand–focus on the go.
Headrick said she was usually at her NYC home for just two and a half months a year prior to the pandemic. “I was on a flight every other day,” she said. “I need to look good and feel good and be in my A game, but I got so run down. My mental health, my physical health, my skin care – everything seemed to crumble. I was like, ‘I don’t understand how people do it.’ So I started asking flight attendants, other models, makeup artists — I was like, ‘I need to know all the tips and tricks to land and feel like I’m alive and breathing!’ she said.
The result of Headrick’s research is Care.e.on’s En Route Essentials kit, which includes the brand’s Hydroboost Hydrating Pads, Cleared For Takeoff Hand Sanitizer, In The Clouds Facial Mist and Flying Highdration Mask. The total kit, which costs $38, is meant to be an antidote to the packaging problems Headrick often faces. She said she’d tried to pack her own travel packs at home, but when rushing for a flight, the last thing she wanted to do was put “expensive products in smaller bottles.”
Headrick and Steinberg said the En Route Essentials kit is just the first of several travel-friendly beauty kits the brand plans to create. For now, the products are not available separately. In addition to the uniform, the brand also sells a sweatshirt.
“Our analysis shows that people buy two to three kits at a time. They’re doing the same thing we’re doing, which is the goal — for it to be thrown in a gym bag or a diaper bag, wherever someone needs a moment to themselves,” Steinberg said.
Headrick echoed that pride of the brand’s early success, citing the brand’s growing repeat customer base just four months later.