MEET THE MAKERS

In the heart of Silverwater, Sydney, De Lorenzo Haircare beats with a rhythm of innovation and unwavering commitment. Rooted in a legacy dating back to the 1930s, the brand has flourished into a symbol of quality and sustainability, reflecting the family’s profound connection to the hairdressing industry.

In 1987, the company underwent a transformative shift, embracing sustainability and ethical practices. This courageous move not only championed environmental wellbeing but also underscored a profound commitment to cruelty-free practices. .

At its essence, De Lorenzo remains authentically Australian, housing an integrated facility encompassing a laboratory, manufacturing plant and distribution centre with a steadfast dedication to plant-based formulations, De Lorenzo consistently benchmarks against industry standards to ensure unparalleled excellence.

Looking forward, the enduring culture of De Lorenzo radiates through its dedicated team, some of whom have been integral members of the family for over three decades. This family-oriented ethos extends beyond the company walls to the wider De Lorenzo hair care community, gathering annually to share industry insights and trends.

De Lorenzo stands as a beacon of leadership, offering more than just hair care products—it embodies a legacy built on excellence, sustainability, and an unwavering devotion to natural beauty.

During a recent visit to De Lorenzo, Jarred Stedman , Mocha Group’s GM, engaged in a conversation with Anthony & Chris De Lorenzo , delving into the brand’s history, gaining insights into the remarkable magnitude of operations at their HQ.

FIRST STOP WAS A CHAT WITH ANTHONY IN THE DE LORENZO LAB…

Anthony, you are Australian-owned and Australian-made, and we’re in the lab right now. This is clearly your passion. Tell us why you love this space so much?

The laboratory is the heart of the business really. Everything that we do, has its genesis in here. Every product we’ve ever put out, has had time in here, in research development and testing. It’s our crucible; our evaluation studio. All of the chemists we have in here, the equipment and the people are focused on developing the best products we can for the hairdressing market.

The De Lorenzo family pioneered the development of Haircare products in Australia. Tell us how it started?

Our family had been in the hairdressing industry, for a long time starting in the 1930s as barbers with my father and also his brother, Vincent & Anton de Lorenzo.

They opened their own hair salon in 1945 and the development of products came from a need to offer high quality results to their clients. They had very high standards. Over a long period of time, they taught themselves cosmetic chemistry after hours, working and developing products for use in their own salon.

Eventually, they created a product to use in their salon and offer to the industry at large. Delva Haircare was born, which they ran in conjunction with the ‘De Lorenzo Salon’. It was quite a large operation in Sydney with over 40 hairdressers working on the floor.

They were totally focused on results and the Delva Haircare brand was developed from this need. Eventually they wanted to retire, so they sold the salon and then sold Delva.

Following this, the family were involved in various other business ventures, but after a period of time, we thought that we still had a lot to contribute to the hair industry, coming together as a family once again, this time with the concept of a family name on our products and a clear mission to step into the zone of natural based products.

What made you start focusing on sustainabiliy and being vegan?

Back in 1987, all cosmetic products that were being produced used petrochemical based ingredients and animal-based ingredients. Even the finest cosmetics were made using those products. We made the conscious decision to remove those, which was technically hard in those days.

We replaced them with nonpetrochemical ingredients made from plants, also in lieu of using animal-based products. So, right from the inception of this company now, we made the decision to be natural, and take an ethical stand as far as the use of animal ingredients.

What was the biggest challenge and the biggest benefit of going natural in your ingredients?

Well, first and foremost, it benefited the animals! And by removing the petrochemicals that’s also a win for the environment. We wanted sustainable products that were ethically based and by removing the petrochemicals and introducing only plantbased ingredients, we achieved our goal. We have continued to develop with that philosophy in mind using products and packaging that have sustainable outcomes, such as recycled materials in our bottles, and safe ingredients.

There is always a way of finding a solution and then digging into that solution and making it more beneficial for the earth, without compromising on quality and results. It’s an evolution, and part of everything we do, here in the lab.

Even with our marketing and packaging we are constantly thinking of new ways to improve our sustainability practices and environmental footprint.

By creating and manufacturing here in your own facility, does that that enable you to evolve quicker and be quite nimble in your approach?

For sure! We can react to the market and to our clients and customers. We are a professional haircare brand, producing products for hairdressers to use in their craft, but also for them to use and recommend to their clients.

Our retail products must encompass our philosophy and goal for excellence. With our commitment to sustainability and ethics, they still need to work, and work well. We have multinational competition, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make better products.

We are proudly Australian, we’ve got a fantastic technical team, a background in the industry and the underlying chemistry when it comes to hair, and we can develop fantastic products. It will often take a couple of years of development, especially when developing a large range.

We have, in fact just launched the Novatone range, and that was a very long process in the laboratory, and in our technical studio to get it right.

To us, being Australian, is not just what we do, it’s who we are…Australian made and Australian owned with an incredibly loyal team. Over 50 percent of the people here have been here for more than 10 years, and some more than 30!

How have you created such an incredible culture?

We have a lovely group of people who all work well and focus on the task of making the best products Australia can make. We have an honour board and every year we do milestones in people’s tenure here, with quite a few having passed the 30-year mark!

There’s 25, 20 and 15 years. So, at five-year intervals, after 10 years, we give awards and it’s lovely. It’s a family business, and we treat people like family. You’ll have to ask them why they tend to stay with us. But you know, we’re very lucky to have the people we have with us.

AND THEN OVER TO THE WAREHOUSE TO CHAT WITH CHRIS…

Chris, we’re here in one of the aisles of the factory. What kind of numbers are you doing when we’re talking about products out the door?

At this time of year, Christmas time, we send out 12 to 15, 000 units a day right across Australia and NZ. We are happy with that. We have come a long way from, our early days.

We’ve been building on our principle, which is natural-based haircare products, which when we started wasn’t very popular. It makes life harder to make a formulation from plant-based ingredients versus traditional chemicals, but it’s what we do.

We benchmark against the best in the field. We have a range of products that we feel serves our client base and our customers, so we are really happy about that.

It’s been interesting walking around the factory today in terms of the sheer scale of manufacturing and distribution. It must have been quite a journey?

Absolutely. Thinking of the history can be exhausting, but we do have a production and a distribution facility. There are numerous laws that you must comply with. You’ve got to jump through a lot of hoops and tick a lot of boxes, however we’ve done all that.

We will keep doing that - we’re here for the long term. We are always evolving, and we have just released a new range called Novatone. We are really excited because it completes our colour story, even though there is always more to come.

What makes Novatone different?

It filled a gap in what we offer; it tones the hair as opposed to locking in the colour, and has been something that we have been lacking. So that’s a win. You can now get what we call the “Nova 360”. Nova is our colour range and 360 is the full circle. It’s a complete care range.

ASPYA, has long been admired as a membership group for your salons for many years, not to mention the trips on offer. Where are you off to in 2024?

We are very excited for the next trip, which is in Phuket, Thailand. We’ve got an exciting line up of speakers. We talk about hair trends in the industry, and it’s just a great get together of likeminded people. Hairdressers aren’t afraid to have a good time when they get together, so, what better place than Phuket!

Photos by Jarred Stedman © mocha group