Cheltenham, UK
It started in a domestic garage in Gloucester in 1985 with a latex make-up sponge product, laying the foundations for what would become one of the UK’s most dynamic and creatively reputed beauty companies.
Forty years on, SLG Brands is celebrating a journey that has seen it transform from a small family business to global beauty brand owner and incubation platform, renowned for its design vision, trend authority and trailblazing brand partnerships.
In the early years, as a niche private label cosmetic applicator supplier, SLG’s in-house manufactured products could be found on the shelves of a handful of UK beauty retailers. With an increasingly sharp eye on trend, fashion and design, SLG would expand its outsourced product portfolio to include make-up brushes, false lashes, false nails, and related beauty accessory products. With an emerging emphasis on creativity, SLG would drive its growth story with design flair and creative energy, leading to strategic relationships with the likes of Boots, The Body Shop, Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.
By the early 2000s, the business was making waves for the first time within the own-brand beauty sector via a high-profile licensing deal with Cosmopolitan Magazine and the creation of a hugely successful and game-changing beauty accessory collection – Cosmopolitan Beauty. It was a turning point that revealed SLG’s ambition to create category-disruptive brands with global resonance.
As the beauty industry evolved, so did SLG, quickening its pace to stay ahead of the trend curve. The company’s first non-licensed own-brand, girl2go, landed at Boots and Superdrug in 2003, followed by a partnership with Sex & the City in 2008 – a moment that cemented SLG’s status as the partner of choice for iconic cultural brands looking to enter the beauty category.
A key milestone arrived in 2014, when SLG spotted the future before the rest of the industry. Long before “influencer beauty” was a recognised category, the company identified, approached and partnered with pioneering YouTube beauty vlogger Zoella, creating a sell-out product range that literally broke the internet at launch. It would rapidly grow into £20 million brand across more than 200 product lines, and in doing so, would define what influencer-driven beauty would look like in the decade to come.
That same year, SLG launched break-through haircare brand, COLAB Dry Shampoo, in collaboration with the hugely respected beauty influencer Ruth Crilly. The brand has since become the world’s most followed dry shampoo on social media and is now available in more than 20,000 stores worldwide.
Growth momentum continued to build. In 2016 came Johnny’s Chop Shop, bringing exciting cult barbering heritage to the male grooming category in a long-standing partnership with London barbershop entrepreneur, Steven Ross.
In 2018, the company developed a vibrant, skin-colour inclusive beauty brand with global girl band sensation Little Mix – LMX Beauty, whilst nurturing long-standing relationships with iconic British fashion and lifestyle brands Laura Ashley, Radley and Osprey, whilst continually pushing the boundaries of what beauty collaborations could and should look like.
Today, SLG partners with global fashion pioneers such as Paul Smith and White Fox, while also building its own-brand portfolio of insight-driven, purpose-led brands, including Rhyme & Reason and Happy Hair People. The company’s award-winning products are in over 40,000 stores worldwide and expanding.
Miles Dunkley, Founder & Executive Creative Director, commented: “When I look back to the first days of SLG — my mum and dad starting out in our garage with just one product — it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. Forty years on, SLG has grown into a global beauty company, and at every step of that journey creativity has been our driving force. What began as a small spark of entrepreneurial spirit by my parents has become a thriving global business that partners with world-leading brands and retailers reaching millions of consumers worldwide. Our 40th year seems more than just a milestone, it’s a celebration of our people and the imagination."
Four decades on, SLG remains true to its roots: independent, design-driven and fuelled by culture. What began with a sponge in Cheltenham is now a global force in beauty — and the next chapter is only just beginning.
For more information, imagery, or interview opportunities, please contact:
SLG Brands Newsroom
pr@slgbrands.com
SLG Brands Newsroom
pr@slgbrands.com
About SLG Brands
SLG is a global beauty brand owner and incubation platform partner who has developed, and launched some of the most exciting, vibrant and authentic beauty brands available around the world; all housed in the company’s integrated award-winning laboratory, design studio, and workspace in Cheltenham UK.
Founded in 1985, SLG is led by creative pioneer Miles Dunkley, alongside industry visionaries Lucy Beresford and Richard Buckland, and their team of experienced specialists. They have harnessed the perfect synergy between bringing indie-brand adaptivity and future-thinking cool, with global authority, innovation and industry-leading expertise, built over 4 decades.
Their portfolio of purpose and insight driven brands includes: COLAB Dry Shampoo the most followed dry shampoo on social media in the world; Johnny's Chop Shop #2 male grooming brand in the UK; Rhyme&Reason the first and only eco-minded hair care brand to use no new plastic in both their bottle and cap; Velvotan the original patent owned tanning mitt and most recently the Happy Hair People range, supporting mental health signposting service Project Healthy Minds in the USA.
SLG also operates as an international brand incubator platform and is particularly reputed in the industry as being design driven and fuelled by fashion and trend, strategically designing and creating brands, collections and product ranges in partnership with global retail multiples such as Boots, Target, Walmart and Ulta, and for some of the biggest and most well-known fashion, lifestyle, celebrity, and influencer brands and personalities of the last 15 years.
These include the earliest breakthroughs in social media and influencer brand creation with Zoella and Gleam Future management, fashion powerhouses such as White Fox, Superdry and Julian McDonald, through to British icons in talent and entertainment such as Little Mix and Fearne Cotton, alongside iconic brands PS by Paul Smith, Radley and Laura Ashley.
As a boutique business, SLG accelerate creativity and innovation with pace and control, free from the organisational bureaucracy of large corporate companies. SLG react quickly to the desires and demands of consumers, partners, technologies and marketplaces, ensuring they operate as a bold, agile and exciting partner.
SLG is a global beauty brand owner and incubation platform partner who has developed, and launched some of the most exciting, vibrant and authentic beauty brands available around the world; all housed in the company’s integrated award-winning laboratory, design studio, and workspace in Cheltenham UK.
Founded in 1985, SLG is led by creative pioneer Miles Dunkley, alongside industry visionaries Lucy Beresford and Richard Buckland, and their team of experienced specialists. They have harnessed the perfect synergy between bringing indie-brand adaptivity and future-thinking cool, with global authority, innovation and industry-leading expertise, built over 4 decades.
Their portfolio of purpose and insight driven brands includes: COLAB Dry Shampoo the most followed dry shampoo on social media in the world; Johnny's Chop Shop #2 male grooming brand in the UK; Rhyme&Reason the first and only eco-minded hair care brand to use no new plastic in both their bottle and cap; Velvotan the original patent owned tanning mitt and most recently the Happy Hair People range, supporting mental health signposting service Project Healthy Minds in the USA.
SLG also operates as an international brand incubator platform and is particularly reputed in the industry as being design driven and fuelled by fashion and trend, strategically designing and creating brands, collections and product ranges in partnership with global retail multiples such as Boots, Target, Walmart and Ulta, and for some of the biggest and most well-known fashion, lifestyle, celebrity, and influencer brands and personalities of the last 15 years.
These include the earliest breakthroughs in social media and influencer brand creation with Zoella and Gleam Future management, fashion powerhouses such as White Fox, Superdry and Julian McDonald, through to British icons in talent and entertainment such as Little Mix and Fearne Cotton, alongside iconic brands PS by Paul Smith, Radley and Laura Ashley.
As a boutique business, SLG accelerate creativity and innovation with pace and control, free from the organisational bureaucracy of large corporate companies. SLG react quickly to the desires and demands of consumers, partners, technologies and marketplaces, ensuring they operate as a bold, agile and exciting partner.