Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1538963
C O U R T E S Y O F E S T É E L AU D E R "I moved to Texas to open Macy's first store there," he recalls, "and the culture shock was real. Going from the subway in New York to my air-conditioned car in Dallas was a whole new world. I'll never forget melting my cassette case on the dashboard of my rental; it was a brutal Texan lesson in heat tolerance. But that's where I learned what really drives retail." It wasn't long before his entrepreneurial spirit pushed him to explore the family business. William joined The Estée Lauder Companies in 1986 as a regional marketing director for Clinique and his observations from that time in Dallas bloomed into Origins, his first baby. The pitch sounded radical then: plants, essential-oil aromatics, mind-body benefits. FROM LEFT Leonard, Evelyn, William, and Estée Lauder at the launch of Origins at Bergdorf Goodman, 1990; William receiving BCRF's Spirit of Philanthropy Award last year, with his daughter, Danielle. "We spent six months arguing over the font on the packaging for Origins. We weren't just selling sk incare, we were selling the way you feel." — W ILLIA M P. L AUDER "We talked about sensory therapy 35 years ago; today it's mainstream wellness," he says, delighted at the foresight. "We spent six months arguing over the font on the packaging. We weren't just selling skincare, we were selling the way you feel when you smell rosemary and lemon." Origins also doubled as his "laboratory," piloting shop-in-shops and brand-led freestanding stores years before direct-to- consumer was buzzworthy. It debuted inside Bergdorf Goodman and Nordstrom and was small enough to be nimble, yet bold enough to carve out a brand-new niche. "It was our playground," Lauder explains. "A chance to test store designs, customer experiences, even how our teams collaborated." BALANCING HERITAGE WITH THE NEW By 2004, Lauder had taken the helm as CEO of The Estée Lauder Companies and found himself straddling two worlds: honoring the classic elegance his grandmother insisted upon, and leading a digital transformation born of a generation that lived on Instagram and TikTok. "If you're always looking back, you'll trip over what's in front of you," he says. "We had to evolve formulas, rethink packaging, embrace e-commerce—without losing our soul." Scroll the company's roster—MAC, La Mer, Le Labo, Tom Ford—and the common thread is freedom. "Our job isn't to sand off the edges," Lauder insists. "Le Labo wants a tiny 450-square-foot shop in Ginza with a perpetual line down the block? Let's find the lease." One of his favorite stories involves Tom Ford. "Tom pitched me 'Private Blend' fragrances with a provocative name—F*cking Fabulous," Lauder recalls with a grin. "Some partners balked. But I told them, 'If it were anyone else, maybe not—but this is Tom Ford. Let's let the brand be itself.'" The result? A cult favorite that still flies off the shelves. BALHAR B O U RSH O P S .CO M