MAF:MAFB are central players in an epidermal differentiation regulatory network. In epidermal progenitors, lncRNA ANCR recruits EZH2 to suppress MAF/MAFB expression and enforce the progenitor state. During differentiation, p63 induces MAF/MAFB gene expression and lncRNA TINCR functions with STAU1 to stabilize MAF/MAFB transcripts. MAF/MAFB suppress the progenitor state and induce the expression of downstream transcription factors, ZNF750, KLF4, PRDM1 and GRHL3, in part by cooperating with p63, to promote epidermal differentiation.