Horst Rechelbacher established Aveda (pronounced ah-vay-da) in 1978. In 1970, Horst, on a trip to India, was opened to the science of Ayurveda (the common holistic system of medicine and surgery from India), and suddenly his vision for his company (thus the name Aveda) was born. Horst formed the first product, a clove shampoo, in his kitchen sink. Today Aveda is part of Este Lauder Companies Inc., based in New York. Rechelbacher sold Aveda to Este Lauder in 1997 for $300 million, although Aveda continues to be run as a separate entity. In 2004, Aveda was granted the prestigious Corporate Achievement Award at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Aveda was one of the first beauty organizations to endorse a set of principles designed to encourage greater environmental responsibility in business, known as The Ceres Principles. According to the enterprise’s website, Aveda is Sanskrit for all knowledge.
