Horst Rechelbacher

Horst M. Rechelbacher (1941 – February 15, 2014) was the founder of the Aveda Corporation and Intelligent Nutrients. His interest in developing products without toxic chemicals launched the market for natural cosmetics in the United States.

Rechelbacher was born in Klagenfurt, Austria to an herbalist and shoe maker/designer and was the youngest of three brothers. His family apartment overlooked a small salon across the street in central Klagenfurt. During his childhood, Rechelbacher had many opportunities to observe the daily activities of the salon. He was both intrigued and inspired by the salon and when the time came to choose a vocation or continue with a formal education, he chose the salon profession. At age fourteen, he embarked on a three-year apprenticeship in the beauty and salon industry. During his apprenticeship, he was a three-time winner of the Austrian Junior Championships. At seventeen, he moved to Italy and started work at an exclusive salon in Rome.

In 1970, Rechelbacher went to Florida to participate in a number of different competitions. During those he became sick due to the products he was using on clients' hair and came up with the idea to start "Aveda" - an all natural hair products line.

Rechelbacher developed Clove Shampoo and later Cherry Almond Bark Conditioner based on his earlier renditions.

In 1978, he founded Aveda and began to expand the product line into hair, skin and body care, makeup, plant-based purefumes, (aromatherapy) and lifestyle products that were all centered on his newfound convictions. Under his guidance he continued a search for flower and plant ingredients around the globe and focused on working with indigenous peoples in mutually beneficial circumstances.

Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Rechelbacher was the first to sign onto the Valdez Principles, now the Ceres principles, joining corporate environmental responsibility with corporate bottom line. In 1992, along with his partner Kiran, he attended the Earth Summit, where three key agreements occurred: the Climate Change Convention, a precursor to the Kyoto Protocol, the Convention on Biological Diversity and an Intellectual Property Rights accord for indigenous peoples that included preventing actions that could be deemed culturally inappropriate and/or cause environmental destruction. Through this convention, Rechelbacher forged a relationship with the Brazilian Yawanawa tribe began a project cultivating uruku and replanting seedlings in deforested areas.

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