She’s more than just a pretty face. As Skyler Brand Ventures managing director Paul E. Wahlgren tells Happi in this exclusive Q&A, Linda Evangelista’s new role at Erasa is not only hands-on, it represents a critical step for this growing brand.
 
Happi: What does what Linda’s appointment mean to Erasa in terms of making a big step into the spotlight in luxury skin care?
Wahlgren: Linda’s addition to the company is a huge leap in our company’s quest for brand awareness. She instantly gives us recognition and credibility, via her star and product guru status. Linda is one of the fashion and beauty industries true icons.
 
HAPPI:  How did this relationship come about?
Wahlgren: The husband of Linda’s aesthetician, Georgia Louise, is an associate of Skyler Brand Ventures, an incubator company for new brands like Erasa XEP 30. When the product launched last year he was given a few samples to spread around. One of them found their way into Linda’s hands. She brought it home and put it on her nightstand, but did not start using it at once. Linda has tons of products that she has for her beauty regimen. One night she got tired of going through all the steps and just used Erasa XEP 30 along with her lip protector and hand cream. This continued for about two weeks, then she looked into her magnifying mirror to tweeze her brows, when she noticed a profound difference in her skin. She continued to use Erasa until the bottle was empty, an event that never happens to Linda because she has not seen results by them until now. This is when she asked to meet the people that created the product.
 
Happi: Tell us about Linda’s role in the company and how this might differ from just being the high-profile face that one might see with other brands?
Wahlgren: Linda is a hands-on creative director and product evaluator. Weekly Linda goes to the lab with Jules [Jules Zecchino, chief technical officer at Skyler] and meets with the chemists that create the new products. Because of her years of using and evaluating what has worked or not worked in the past she can give great direction to perfect the aesthetics and performance of each product, like no one else we have ever worked with.
 
Happi: What about new products—what has Jules been cooking up in the lab?
Wahlgren:  We have been working with our industry partners to come up with the next new biomimetic molecules like XEP 30. They will be incorporated into new delivery forms for the face, neck, décolletage, eyes and lips…we expect to be announcing some exciting new retail launches shortly.