It was in 2012 that Jessica Alba launched The Honest Company.
Four years earlier, while pregnant with her eldest, Honor, the actress — known for starring in Fox’s 2000 series “Dark Angel” and appearing in films like “Fantastic Four” and “Sin City” — imagined creating “clean” yet design-conscious and affordable baby products.
As a mom of three, she partnered with entrepreneurs Christopher Gavigan, Brian Lee and Sean Kane with sustainability and transparency in mind. While common touch points for businesses today, they were much less talked about over a decade ago.
“When I really understood the lack of oversight on industries that make products, having to think through the human health aspect and having to think about the impact on the planet, and also the third thing, which is really standing for fairness when it comes to equity, diversity and inclusion, when I just really understood the world around me and had that context, I then knew that there needed to be somebody to show that it can be done,” Alba told WWD in 2022 of those early days.
There were 17 products revealed at launch, including diapers, wipes, shampoo, sunscreen and cleaning products. Honest has expanded tremendously since, now offering three categories of goods: diapers and wipes, skin and personal care under the Honest Beauty banner, and household and wellness.
Jessica Alba
Dan Doperalski/WWD
Big news came in 2021 when The Honest Company went public, with the IPO raising $412.8 million. With an omnichannel approach, the brand grew to be found in about 50,000 retail locations across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. Shifting its focus in North America to drive growth, in 2022 the company expanded into Walmart, and a year later — with Carla Vernón (formerly of Amazon) leading as CEO — it was announced that The Honest Company would exit the European and Asian markets.
In 2023, The Honest Company achieved a 10 percent year-over-year rise in revenue, with a total of $344 million. Results were driven by new distribution and price increases in the retail channel, which grew by 2 percent, and double-digit consumption growth in the digital channel, which increased by 20 percent, the company stated.
And now, just this month, Alba revealed the latest: she has stepped down as chief creative officer.
She shared the news on Instagram on April 9, writing: “It is with a grateful heart that twelve years after founding The Honest Company, I am stepping down from my leadership role as Chief Creative Officer. However, I will continue to provide strategic advice through my role on the board. While there would never have been an easy time to make this decision, I know we have a leadership team in place with Carla Vernón at the helm to advance our founding vision and strengthen Honest’s legacy as an industry change-maker.” Alba will “shift her creative energy to new endeavors” while providing “her support and leadership” on the board of directors, The Honest Company said in a statement.
