Bronner Bros. named nine honorees for the second Beauty Icon Awards, set for Saturday, Oct. 10, at Riverside EpiCenter in Atlanta, including Carol’s Daughter founder Lisa Price, Topicals founder Olamide Olowe and Spelman College’s cosmetic science program. The list came in a Bronner Bros. release on Oct. 7.
Who Bronner Bros. Honored
The release lists the honorees with short descriptions. Tokyo Stylez is a celebrity hairstylist, wigmaker and entrepreneur. Price is the founder and president of Carol’s Daughter. Xia Charles is a celebrity braider and the founder of Braided New York. Derek Blanks is a celebrity photographer and director. Olowe is the founder of Topicals. Cornell McBride Sr. is a beauty industry pioneer and the founder of Design Essentials. Germaine Bolds-Leftridge is a beauty industry leader. ORS is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Two of the honorees are institutions or brands, not people. Spelman College’s Cosmetic Science Program is recognized for an expansion that, in the release’s words, created the first undergraduate cosmetic science program of its kind at a historically Black college or university.
The theme is “Midnight Bloom,” which the release says honors the years of work that go unseen before influence becomes visible. Kelly Keith, the awards’ executive producer, said in the release that Black beauty is about more than how people look. The VIP reception and red carpet start at 5:30 p.m. and the main program at 7:30 p.m. The dress code is black tie.
VIVACÉ by KISS returns as title partner, and Ivan Chae, a vice president at KISS Beauty Group, said in the release that the company is honored to hold the role. Eco Style Styling Gel also supports the evening.
The 2025 ceremony billed itself as a “live museum of beauty over the decades,” the 2025 release said. That ceremony ran at 7 p.m. at the same venue, which that release called the Bronner Center of Performing Arts (Riverside EpiCenter).
The Company Behind the Awards
Bronner Bros. is a family-owned company that, according to Atlanta News First, traces its roots to a cosmetology classroom at Atlanta’s Butler Street YMCA in 1947. Joshua Bronner, the company’s chief operating officer and a third-generation leader, was scheduled to discuss that history on the station’s “ATL Live” segment on Oct. 7. The station’s article does not quote him.
The arithmetic is simple. From 1947 to 2026 is 79 years, which fits the company’s description of itself as nearly 80 years old. James Bronner, the company’s president, said in a release in August that “For nearly 80 years, Bronner Bros. has been committed to advancing Black beauty professionals.”
The company also runs the International Beauty Show. Its 2025 release calls it the largest and longest-running event of its kind and says it draws thousands of beauty professionals from around the world.
Why Spelman’s Program is on the List
Spelman College announced the expansion in March 2024. The school added a cosmetic chemistry concentration for chemistry majors and a cosmetic science minor for students in other majors, according to Spelman’s announcement. The curriculum began as a certificate in the eSpelman online program in January 2023.
The demand figures are in the same announcement. Applications to the certificate grew from 150 to 750 by its fourth term, a fivefold increase. The school also said Black women spent more than $7.4 billion on cosmetics and personal care products in 2022, while Black beauty brands make up 2.5% of the market. The announcement sets the two figures side by side: large spending by Black women and a small market share for Black beauty brands.
Dr. Leyte Winfield, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Spelman, said the new concentration and minor would help students compete for graduate study and careers, according to the announcement. Dr. Michelle Gaines, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, researches the surface chemistry of curly hair, per the same page.
A Connection between 2025 and 2026
The awards also carry a link between the two years. The inaugural ceremony took place on Oct. 11, 2025, and the 2025 release named 10 honorees, among them Chaka Khan, Danessa Myricks, June Ambrose and Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart. It also named Cliff Vmir.
Both Harris-Dupart and Vmir are back in 2026, this time on the stage instead of the honor roll. The 2026 release says about 400 students will attend a VIVATRESS Student Summit before the awards, with a Fantasy Braid Competition and a “Beyond the Chair” panel. The panelists are Vmir, Harris-Dupart and Evan Nicole “The Hair Guruu” Williams.
The two releases differ on how they describe the first class. The 2025 release lists 10 honorees. The 2026 release, in recalling the inaugural event, names five: Khan, Myricks, Harris-Dupart, the late George E. Johnson and Terrence Davidson. Neither document explains the gap.
Tickets, including VIP and general admission, are sold through BronnerBros.com, the 2026 release says.
