Naomi Osaka.Photo: GoDaddy
Naomi Osakais introducing a functional skincare line.
The four-time Grand Slam champ, 23, launched hernew brand KINLÒ, which is designed with people of color’s needs in mind, on Tuesday. It’s a “project that I’ve been working on with my team for the past year,” Osaka explained on her Instagram Story.
“As a POC I started learning about skin cancer rates affecting people like me wondered why there wasn’t a great product that feels good and protects our skin,” she wrote. “So I founded @kinloskin which is a functional skin care line for people with melanated skin.”
“Tennis can be challenging at times but it has given me this platform which I am so grateful for and allows me to help others in ways I wouldn’t have imagined otherwise,” said the athlete. “Hope you like it!”
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Alongside Osaka, Dr. Naana Boakye will serve as dermatology director to ensure that the products are of the “highest efficiency” in regard to education about skin cancer while meeting the skin needs of people of color.
KINLO.Kinlo
Of the brand — which pays homage to Osaka’s bicultural heritage as both Kin and Lo mean “gold” in Japanese Haitian Creole respectively — the tennis star shared in the press release: “Bringing KINLÒ to life was a personal and professional goal of mine. I am thrilled that my first entrepreneurial endeavor will be something meaningful to my community, and I couldn’t be more thankful for my team at A-Frame and GoDaddy. "
Similar to her Instagram post, Osaka expressed in the press release that she was moved to create the line after feeling as though “Black, Brown, and other melanated skin toned communities are often an after-thought in the discussion and research surrounding sun care, including being excluded from clinical studies on skin cancer.”
“Additionally, there is a lack of sun protection products being made with melanated skin in mind. These points have all led me to create KINLÒ, a mission-first brand,” Osaka added.
“I’d like to start my own brand one day, probably together with my sister, but for now I’m loving collab’ing with some great designers and learning the craft and the business,” Osakatold PEOPLE earlier this yearabout fashion, referring to her older sister Mari Osaka, who is also a professional tennis player.
source: people.com
