Martin Penny, Gary Douglas, Susan Powls, and Robert Powls founded ghd in January 2001.^[6][7] The three collaborated to buy the rights to a hair straightening iron from an inventor in South Korea.^[8] The brand grew organically from word of mouth, and began their first advertising campaign two years later.^[9][10] By then, hair salons had purchased £12 million of stock, against a forecast of between £3 million and £4 million.^[8]

In May 2004, ghd entered the North American market, which helped generate worldwide sales of £37 million for the year.^[11] In July 2006, The Jemella Group, which owned the ghd brand, was bought by Lloyds Development Capital for £55 million.^[6] It was sold eleven months later to Montagu Private Equity for £160 million.^[12] in February 2013, Lion Capital, a British private equity firm, purchased ghd for approximately £300 million.^[13]

By March 2013, the company had sales totalling over £150 million, more than doubling since 2007, selling over two million styling irons through 50,000 salons worldwide.^[3] In 2016, Coty bought ghd for an estimated £420 million from the private equity firm Lion Capital LLP.^[14] The sale was completed on 21 November 2016.^[15]

On December 1, 2020, Coty completed sale of Wella, Clairol, OPI and ghd brands stake to KKR for $2.5bn in cash whilst retaining 40% stake in the standalone company.^[16] On October 1, 2021, Coty announced that it would sell approximately 9% of its shares to KKR for $426.5 million. The deal cuts Coty's stake in Wella, Clairol, OPI and ghd brands to around 30.6%.^[17]

On November 8, 2021, Coty has agreed to sell an approximate 4.7% stake in Wella to KKR in exchange for the redemption of approximately 56% of KKR's remaining convertible preferred shares in Coty. The deal reduces Coty's total shareholding in Wella, Clairol, OPI and ghd brands to approximately 25.9%. KKR will continue to have a 2.4% ownership stake in Coty on an as-converted basis.^[18]

Products edit

• In 2011, ghd launched the V Gold Series Styler.
• In 2012, ghd launched the Air Professional Hairdryer.^[19]
• In March 2013, ghd launched the "Eclipse" hair straightener.^[20] The consistent temperature reduces the time to style hair, particularly coarse hair that may previously taken multiple run throughs.^[21]
• In 2014, ghd launched the Aura Hairdryer and ghd Curve, hair curling range.
• In 2015, ghd launched the Platinum Styler.
• In 2018, the GHD platinum Plus styler was launched.^[22]

• ghd launched its first advertising campaign in August 2003, as the sponsor of the British reality television show The Salon.^[23]
• In November 2009, ghd ran a popular series of advertisements titled 'Twisted Fairytales' that included depictions of characters such as Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella.^[24]
• In October 2011, ghd launched the "Scarlet Collection" with Katy Perry as the face of the campaign. Photos for the campaign were shot by the photographer David LaChapelle.^[25] * ghd has also partnered with Victoria's Secret for a multi-year sponsorship of its annual fashion show.^[26] The company is the first ever hair tool sponsor for a Victoria's Secret fashion show.^[4]

Endorsements edit

The brand has attracted endorsements from a variety of celebrities including the singer Katy Perry who became the face of ghd in December 2011.^[27][28]

Since 2004, ghd has raised approximately £2.5 million for the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity.^[29] The company produces a limited edition pink hair iron every year, with £10 of the sale price being donated in support the charity.^[30] In January 2010, ghd partnered with charity "Mom It Forward" and SafeHouse Denver, a women's shelter that serves victims of domestic violence and their children, in an event at Sephora.^[31]

• Official website