founder David Raccuglia Interview with American Crew

Barbers throughout Europe had the unique opportunity to have a collection shoot photographed by no one less than American Crew founder David Raccuglia during private photos sessions. David is not only the founder of the number 1 styling brand, but he is also a renowned photographer. American Crew invited team BarberSociety over to Paris in their brand-new Academy in which the photoshoots took place. We could meet up with David to talk about the grooming industry, the brand, the products and creating hair collections.

How it started How it all started? David (64) explains: “I was inspired by the lack of grooming options for men on the market, and I knew there had to be a better offering than the limited selection of drugstore products and run-of-the-mill wax pomades. So, with the knowledge gathered from my styling experience as a barber along with my passion for filling that gap in the market I launched American Crew in 1994 with just six products.”

30 years and sky rocketing David: “And here we are almost 30 years later, what a ride we have been on! Now we have landed, we are doing 55% of the beauty market. American Crew as a brand is the common American standard and will be forever. We are a very good value and very high-quality product. We are very concerned about our ingredients; we are compliant with rejecting bad ingredients. For the value we are the best men’s grooming brand there is. Whether or not how people look at it, our products perform at least. That’s one of the reasons we are the number 1 styling brand, which I believe in the world now. Overall American Crew has over 40 products if you take shave, beard, care and styling. We don’t have a lot of me-too products. We create our products from scratch, we have our own way of doing things. We pioneered a lot. It was very important to me and the company that we were not a one trick brand we want it to be the styling product for every hair texture. And I think we succeeded in it, that’s why we offer a lot of diverse products like creams, care, shampoo etc. Men have a huge appetite for this all. We are the most copied hair care brand. Nevertheless, there are many good product brands out there, many. They all have their own unique position in the marketplace.”

Product launches following trends

American Crew launches new products every year. David explains how he comes up with new ideas. David: “We have new products coming up soon. We have a whole innovation team working on our products. What I look personally for is: what changing in hair trends do we have? Is hair getting shorter, longer, are people running their fingers through their hair or only freezing their hair. Are people brushing their hair, combing their hair or not combing? There is a dance that I go through to try to figure out what’s next. I am lucky that I have daughters that are in their twenties and therefore I see a lot of young people and I am able to ask them a lot of questions about their hair. The younger group today is not as intense with their grooming but they love using products. It is very cool now to use a hair product. Now, they are not looking for as much for intense hold, or gravity and fine shapes, it is more looser now. Everything is cool for men’s hair nowadays. From shaved hair, to long hair. That isn’t odd or trendy, it’s normal. What a great time to be in the grooming business, everything is being celebrated!”

Celebrating style

David points out that the American Crew products are relevant for whoever wants to groom. He doesn’t label people. He even mentions that many women today have more barbering style than men. David: “I am inspired by change. I love people that celebrate style; men, women, gender neutral, whatever it is. If you are celebrating style, American Crew is a good brand for you. It works. And that to me is very important. I see our product like an incredibly good quality t-shirt. You put it on and it goes to you. That is what our product is. You wear a t-shirt for a reason, you use grooming products for a reason. Do you want it to go up, do you want it to go forward, we’ll do it. As much I love the barber category, I see that there are many women today that have more barbering style than men. We are a really good product for a lot of people, that is the key thing. Nothing in the labels or names. Our product is for grooming. Whoever wants to groom, is going to be happy with our products. It offers a level of hold and shine, it has an explanatory way to use, it works better on short and medium hair. Whoever wants to be involved in that kind of quality will be happy with our brand.”

Newest kid on the block

Asking to the new product that will be launched soon in Europe, David tells us about ‘Whip’. “Whip is our newest product. It’s the product that makes you look if you don’t have a lot of product in your hair. I use it myself, it’s my favorite product right now. It is a light, airy formula. So it goes into the hair very easily. It doesn’t weigh the hair down at all. It is also very good for fine hair because you can layer it and overuse it and it doesn’t weigh the hair down. It looks like it is more textured.”

What his all-time favorite product is? “I like our new care line very much, we just renovated the shampoo and I love the daily moisturizing shampoo, it is really an upgrade. I also love Detox Shampoo. A great scalp shampoo that I use 2 or 3 times a week. I love our beard serum too. My go-to product has been for years the cream pomade. But now I love Whip. I like to run with my fingers through my hair so Whip is now my favorite. It makes my hair a little more lifted.”

Use your voice

David flew over from the USA to shoot private collections from Barbers throughout Europe in Paris. He feels it is very important for barbers to create collections, it gives them a voice. “If you create a collection of hair every year, you say: this is what we feel represents us. The way we want to cut, the length, the style, the trend whatever you want to call it.It becomes the voice. And keep your voice different than someone else’s voice. I think that is really important. Even if you use the iPhone, it’s important to create something with your name and your brand identity on it.

”But where do you start in creating a collection? “I create a collection every year and what I do is: I see what I love. I first look what’s going on. I get inspired by music, by sport. I rarely get inspired by fashion. Fashion to me is where everybody looks. So, I try to look in a different way, like the reinvention of the past. So, it is really more about what you think is interesting. Pop culture in general, that makes a huge impact. Like the TV series Euphoria, (ed.: original HBO series), was huge in the States. I am not saying they should look at that, but the truth is that it’s probably where a lot of ideas come from. A brand like Crew that’s here for 30 years, we are not willing to abandon our roots for a trend. We will adapt some pop culture event to our roots because we are doing it for so long. Creating a photo collection is having consistency. If you have like 4 or 5 models, you can’t just do everything. You have to be reasonable, is it the texture, the shape, the finish etc. “

Future plans

About the brand’s future plans, David points out that the engineering and making of products are changing: “We have fantastic new products coming out, also styling products. We have many things where we are looking at. The engineering and making of products are changing. We as a brand want to go forward with the best quality. New technology in order to multi benefit bold hair, skin, cells. There is more attention for better health for hair, better health for the scalp. So, products with a multi benefit role. It is very exciting, kind of a new era. I love seeing new opportunities for hair, in styling, in care etc.”

And his own plans? “In all of the 30 years that I am working with the brand, since I founded the brand, it has never been as much fun as it is now! It’s an all-time high, it’s a blast because the grooming category is on fire. The first ten years, nobody cared about Crew, we were very small. To be part of the number 1 grooming brand in the world is pretty awesome! I am so grateful!”