It’s been over a century since Madam C.J. Walker launched the first products from her eponymous hair-care brand. Founded in 1906, the Madam C.J. Walker Company is known and credited for the mass distribution of hair products for black and textured hair in America during a time when products were not accessible or marketed to African Americans. “Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower,” the brand’s breakthrough product, took Walker across the country, knocking on consumers’ doors, and eventually helped build the empire that made her the first female self-made millionaire in American history. “Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower,” the brand’s breakthrough product, took Walker across the country, knocking on consumers’ doors, and eventually helped build the empire that made her the first female self-made millionaire in American history.
Today, Madam C.J. Walker’s impact on the beauty industry is immense and apparent. Walker is admired because she became a millionaire on her own, but it was her products and the community she built that will live on. Now that legacy continues with a new hair-care line, Madam by Madam C.J. Walker.
Madam by Madam C.J. Walker was made for the next generation of beauty addicts. It has 11 new products, including shampoos, leave-in conditioners, and scalp serums, all of which are based on the beauty legend herself. Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, journalist and historian A’Lelia Bundles, teamed up with Walmart to make an accessible line that reflects the quality and values of the original Madam C.J. Walker products. Each product retails for under $10 and upholds Madam Walker’s philosophy that a healthy scalp is key for strong hair. But Bundles insists her great-great-grandmother’s influence goes beyond beauty.
“[Madam Walker] represents this arc of a life to overcome obstacles,” Bundles told Glamour. “She was mentored by other Black women. When she finally had the chance and was in a position, she opened doors for other Black women. She was a washerwoman until she was 38. But then she invented this formula for hair care products, and realized that she was addressing a need that other women had. As she traveled around selling the products, she saw that those women were really happy to have hair-care products, but what they needed was education and economic independence. She made that as much a part of her mission as the products themselves.”
Bundles worked with Sundial Brands CEO Cara Sabin, Walmart merchandising director of specialty hair Angel Beasley, and Walmart omni associate merchant Lynn Nestor to develop the new line, which brings the history Madam Walker to 2022 and most importantly, to Gen Z. “What really ties everything together is our Scalp to Strand System, which is a nod to Madam C.J. Walker and her original iconic product, the Wonderful Hair Grower,” Sabin says. “We’re targeting a younger consumer. We’re on TikTok, and there’s some really exciting content coming. But at the heart of it, we wanted to make sure that we were honoring the legacy of Madam C.J. Walker.”
To celebrate Madam by Madam C.J. Walker, Glamour sat down for a roundtable discussion with these women to reflect on Madam Walker’s life and legacy, their personal connections to the beauty legend, and their best advice for young female entrepreneurs.
How much did you reference the brand’s history in creating this new line?
Cara: Being the historian, journalist, and wealth of knowledge that A’Lelia is, she provided us with a lot of rich clippings, articles, old ads and product pack shots. We went through everything and started from the foundation.
A’Lelia: The scalp and hair health, the empowerment of women, all of those things were very much a part of our earliest conversations. The DNA and legacy of Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower, her main product, are woven into this. It’s all new formulas, because we have a hundred years of research and development. But the idea that you first have to have a great product with great ingredients, you have to market that product, you have to make sure that people know how to use it, you have to surround yourself with a strong team. All of that is very much a part of what the product is now.
Angel Beasley: It really is an honor to be a part of relaunching, in a very accessible way, for the Walmart customer. We know that she has to think about how much she’s spending. So bringing something under $10 that will be available in over 3,000 stores and online is what Madam C.J. Walker was doing a century ago. To be a part of that legacy in 2022 is pretty amazing.
