Brooke Shields‘ hair care brand Commence is honoring its one-year milestone and first partnership with a cheeky, female-focused collaboration with Clare V., the fashion and accessories brand founded by Clare Vivier. The two companies are dropping a limited-edition T-shirt with the words, “Beaux Cheveux” — translation “beautiful hair” — emblazoned on the front.
The design, as Shields and Vivier put it, is for “unserious” over-40 women redefining beauty on their own terms. “It’s about the joy you feel by being a woman at this age,” Shields told WWD over a video call before Vivier noted: “There are things that can make you start to feel bad at this age, but none of that is present in this collaboration. It only focuses on the wonderful stuff, which is what [Brooke’s] brand does.”
Brooke Shields’ Commence partners with Clare V. for its first partnership and one-year anniversary.
The soft guava color of the T-shirt models Commence’s color story, while the font and playful language are unique to Clare V. “The way the graphics are laid out, there’s an energy to it. It almost feels like you’re catching something mid-explosion. I find it joyous,” Shields said.
Since its 2024 inception, Commence has zeroed in on 40-plus consumers; women looking for care-first products, such as root serum and probiotic conditioner, to improve scalp and hair health in the wake of biochemical change. Whether it’s dryness, patchiness, hair thinning, frizziness or lack of growth, Shields said Commence derived from the needs of the community aged 40, 50, 60 and up. She thus filled these gaps in the market with intentional products that treat the scalp as one would treat their skin. “We’re hearing the words, ‘skinification of scalp.’ We really regard the scalp as skin, and it has its own special needs,” she noted.
Commence told WWD that 90 percent of its customers are new now. What’s more, every product that’s been introduced has sold out, generating waitlists of over 20,000 people.
“The one thing that I feel since day one, and this is a few years ago, is that we’ve never swayed from our true approach to the community. We’ve listened to them. We communicate with them. I communicate with them. There’s access to me, and they are our largest growth opportunity; they have been this year, and they will continue, because they were the ones that built us into a beauty brand,” Shields said.
The collaboration includes a pale guava-colored T-shirt with the message, “Beaux Cheveux,” on the front.
It’s the 60-year-old “Pretty Baby” actress’ connection to this age group that first drew her to Clare V., not to mention Vivier’s style sensibility and undeniable “French flair.” Shields said: “I wanted to be associated with something and someone who I think is incredibly stylish and French and also American, but very clean and beautiful and powerful.” Indeed, the French consideration was particularly important based on her brand’s own ties to the culture and language. The name Commence is meant to be interpreted as the French verb, meaning “to begin.”
The synergy of their two brands is not lost on Vivier. In fact, the connection between Clare V. and Commence is one Vivier hopes to foster. “I love Brooke,” Clare said. “It’s part of the Clare V. foundation to support other women-owned brands because that’s how I built my brand 17 years ago. What I credit the success of it to be is not only from our community of customers, primarily women, but also the community of other business owners building each other up. So, to me, I’m bringing Brook and her burgeoning beauty company into the fold of this community of women-owned businesses.”
The “Beaux Cheveux” shirt is available now on shopcommence.com and clarev.com for $100, until supplies last.