The idea for Parfait started with a problem many women of color experience: styling and caring for their textured hair.
Isoken Igbinedion launched the AI and machine-learning wig customization company after experiencing the trials and tribulations of trying to adhere to societal beauty standards as a Black woman. It stemmed from childhood.
“As a ten-year-old, I had a dangerous encounter with chemical reaction that made all of my natural hair fall out,” she tells ESSENCE.
An immigrant from Nigeria, as a child her family moved into a predominantly white neighborhood in US where she was forced to assimilate culturally and phenotypically.
“I looked so different from everybody else and no matter what, I got bullied for the texture of my hair,” she explains. After enduring the ridicule, she asked her mother for a relaxer and lost her hair, which resulted in Isoken wearing wigs for most of her childhood into her teens.
Over time her hair grew back to a healthy state, but when attempting to find well-made wigs at an affordable price, Isoken alongside her sister Ifueko used their years of tech experience to launch Parfait, an AI and machine learning-powered company that makes wigs based on each customer’s unique features.
“Ifueko’s past experiences at companies like Target, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and IBM and mine at Microsoft and Target informs the way we use technology to increase the efficacy of our products,” she explains.
Parfait caught the attention of Serena Williams, whose venture fund ultimately wound up investing in after she shared her admiration for company’s innovation.
“Parfait’s mission to leverage Al to solve core issues for both the tech industry and communities of color is something we, at Serena Ventures, have believed in since the beginning,” Williams said in a statement.
In just a few shorts years the company has grown tremendously and landed a retail partnership with Ulta Beauty in which customers can walk into one of their locations for consultation with one of stylists and be guided through the purchase process for a customized wig, partial or ponytail.
“You can get your braid down done, you can get your hair washed, cleansed, and clarified. You can get your wig installed. And then you can take your wig back after purchase for a refresh, for a re-pamper, and a reinstallation.”
Isoken says the landmark partnership is about so some much more than customers being able to obtain convenient beauty services.
“I’m so excited about being able to create an institutional space that I think our community has really never had before. Where you can go into a place and feel comfortable because your unique needs will be addressed. The stylists have been trained by the Parfait experience to ensure you get full support across the entire product journey.”