Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Paloma Elsesser joined The Business of Beauty’s executive editor Priya Rao about staying true to herself amid the pressures of tokenism and why — after a decade building other people’s brands — she’s finally thinking about building one of her own.
Diversity and body positivity have been important themes shaping the fashion conversation over the past decade. Yet a gap remains between the industry’s ideals and its reality. Few people have experienced that gap – and pushed back against it – more visibly than Paloma Elsesser. She’s walked the biggest runways, landed the biggest covers and used her platform to challenge the industry’s standards around bodies, beauty and who gets to be seen.
Now, she’s taking that authority somewhere new: building a body care brand rooted in the rituals she grew up with.
Elsesser sat down with executive editor Priya Rao on stage at this year’s Business of Beauty Global Forum to discuss staying true to herself amid the pressures of tokenism and why — after a decade spent building other people’s brands — she’s finally thinking about building one of her own.
Subscribe to BoF’s YouTube channel to never miss a video.
CONNECT WITH THE BUSINESS OF FASHION:
Web: businessoffashion.com
Twitter: twitter.com/BoF
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessoffa...
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-...
Newsletter: businessoffashion.com/newsletters
ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF FASHION: The Business of Fashion is a next-generation fashion media company conceived for today’s global and hyper-connected world. Founded in 2007 by Imran Amed, BoF is known for its authoritative, agenda-setting point of view on the global fashion industry, and is an indispensable resource for fashion executives, creatives, students, and entrepreneurs in over 200 countries. It has been described as “The Economist of Fashion,” “A Daily Destination for Fashion’s Power Players”, and “The Industry Bible”, businessoffashion.com
Paloma Elsesser joined The Business of Beauty’s executive editor Priya Rao about staying true to herself amid the pressures of tokenism and why — after a decade building other people’s brands — she’s finally thinking about building one of her own.
Diversity and body positivity have been important themes shaping the fashion conversation over the past decade. Yet a gap remains between the industry’s ideals and its reality. Few people have experienced that gap – and pushed back against it – more visibly than Paloma Elsesser. She’s walked the biggest runways, landed the biggest covers and used her platform to challenge the industry’s standards around bodies, beauty and who gets to be seen.
Now, she’s taking that authority somewhere new: building a body care brand rooted in the rituals she grew up with.
Elsesser sat down with executive editor Priya Rao on stage at this year’s Business of Beauty Global Forum to discuss staying true to herself amid the pressures of tokenism and why — after a decade spent building other people’s brands — she’s finally thinking about building one of her own.
Subscribe to BoF’s YouTube channel to never miss a video.
CONNECT WITH THE BUSINESS OF FASHION:
Web: businessoffashion.com
Twitter: twitter.com/BoF
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/businessoffa...
Instagram: instagram.com/BoF
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-...
Newsletter: businessoffashion.com/newsletters
ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF FASHION: The Business of Fashion is a next-generation fashion media company conceived for today’s global and hyper-connected world. Founded in 2007 by Imran Amed, BoF is known for its authoritative, agenda-setting point of view on the global fashion industry, and is an indispensable resource for fashion executives, creatives, students, and entrepreneurs in over 200 countries. It has been described as “The Economist of Fashion,” “A Daily Destination for Fashion’s Power Players”, and “The Industry Bible”, businessoffashion.com
