Imperial-grade grooming

Imperial Barber Grade Products started about three years ago in a Los Angeles barber shop with one hair pomade that a couple of barbers, Pedro Zermeno and Scott Serrata, and graphic designer Bryan Fisher sold out of the trunks of their cars. I met them at Capsule Las Vegas where they were giving out free haircuts and showing off their growing line of men’s hair and shaving products, which now includes four pomades ($20-$24 retail), a glycerin facial and shaving soap ($12), a pre-shave oil ($12) and a bergamot aftershave ($10). After the show, I caught up with one of the three founders, Bryan Fisher.

How did Capsule Las Vegas go for you?
Boy, were we busy. We did the pop-up barber shop and probably gave 40 to 45 haircuts over two days. It was a great opportunity to introduce people to the brand in an authentic and interactive way. Nick Wooster came by for a cut and that was capped off with Jim Moore from GQ coming by on Tuesday with his posse of well-dressed counterparts. Quite a few of them were already using Imperial, too!

We made a lot of great connections at Capsule New York, and some of those are starting to pan out. A lot of Canadian interest, including Holt Renfrew. Need Supply in Virginia had the fastest sell-through of any product they’re ever had with Imperial, which is hugely flattering. They’re really on their game.

What’s really helping us is the tight-knit community of top barbers across the country. Barber culture is pretty hot now, so our timing is fortuitous.

How and when did Imperial start?
We developed the Classic Pomade in 2009. It was called Parlor Classic then and the name Imperial didn’t even exist at the time. We sold that until we had enough money to pay for the next round. My CPA informed me before we left for Capsule Las Vegas that we’ve grown 1,100 percent in the last eight months! We’re getting help from everywhere we can but we’ve yet to pay ourselves. A lot of the attention we’ve been getting has come our way naturally and organically, so that’s been really nice.

We started this year ordering 750 of each item and we’re already at 5,000 of each. Which is still small batch in the grand scheme of things. We’re trying to keep that small batch level of quality control yet maintain our inventory growth.

You’ve said you started making these products because existing ones in the market fell short. How so?
Our mission was to create something performance-based that’s for guys—no European name, no cute name like Bumble & Bumble and not something you’d borrow from your girlfriend. A lot of products have brilliant packaging and a great mystique but when push comes to shove, they just don’t work.

A lot of shaving products are rushed to the market. They use template formulas and put more time into the packaging. They’ll use synthetic ingredients like parabens in pre-shave oils (to preserve the oil) and the conditioning is poor because they using lower quality oils. They’re using fragrances rather than essential oils and the alcohol content is often too high in aftershaves. Many shave products don’t have the proper foaming levels. And a lot of them smell bad!

And all your products are made in the USA?
We didn’t set out to ride the wave of “made in the USA” – it just wasn’t even a question for us. All of our manufacturers are based here in L.A. and we’d never consider outsourcing it. We’re very proud to employ people in L.A., from our label manufacturers to our lids and jars, the freight companies—it’s all here. We just shot a little documentary piece with some guys in Hollywood who’re making a movie about start-ups and what it means to be an entrepreneur and a made in the USA brand. We get inquiries every day from retailers that specialize in American-made products, stores like Ball & Buck in Boston—those guys are awesome.

Any new products coming up?
We’re launching the three-in-one body wash/shampoo/conditioner next year. It’ll come in 16 and 32 oz sizes. It’s going to be sulphate-free, which is important: if your girlfriend decides to use it, it won’t strip the color out of her hair. It’s made with all natural bergamot and cedar essential oils. It’s really lively and woodsy with a giant lather. We’ve been designing it all year and just signed off on it. We’re hoping to get it into some boutique hotels.

And then we’re going to come out with the Classic Pomade Light, which is an iteration of the Classic Pomade that doesn’t sit as heavy in the hair. It’s for guys who have finer hair but really like that tight, slicked back look—this won’t rip the hair out.

And finally, we’re thinking holiday 2013 to introduce our two colognes. There might be a candle as well.

We’ve been asked about mustache wax and I think we’re just going to avoid that category. It’s a specialty item that has to be wax-based and the margins aren’t all that good so we don’t want to go there.