Black-owned beauty brand Mielle Organics has announced a partnership with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as the U.S. women’s basketball league’s first textured hair care partner. The brand, which was founded by Monique Rodriguez and acquired by Procter & Gamble in January, will launch the new partnership on Saturday at the WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas.
Mielle Organics will throughout the partnership activate at tentpole events, conduct WNBA-themed marketing and retail programs, and introduce players to new products, a press release stated. Omar Goff, President at Mielle, said the brand is “committed to ensuring the queens on the court have superior products to confidently embrace their natural hair beauty.”
“Mielle was built on the foundation of providing high quality, natural products for textured hair. The WNBA partnership enables Mielle to empower players through exceptional hair care,” Goff added.
The release said Mielle will also be an associate partner of WNBA Live presented by U.S. Bank, the league’s interactive fan festival which enables fans to celebrate the league’s marquee moments, teams, players, and so on.
“The WNBA is excited to partner with Mielle, a brand that is committed to empowering women and supporting women’s sports,” said WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison. “This year’s WNBA Live in Las Vegas will not only give us the chance to celebrate our game, but also the opportunity to tip off this dynamic partnership with Mielle.”
Mielle, which is reported to be the fastest-growing Black-founded and woman-led global beauty brand, is the second beauty brand to team up with the WNBA. Glossier first partnered with the league in October 2020.
Recently, there has been a rise in the number of beauty partnerships with sports bodies and athletes. Sports stars including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Angel Reese not too long ago became ambassadors for cosmetics brands. Mielle signed the 21-year-old LSU basketball star Reese as its latest ambassador three months ago.
It was announced that Reese as part of her new role will promote the textured hair-care brand’s products online to her 4.3 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and Twitter as well as at in-person events.