Gen Z-favorite Flower Knows, a popular Chinese makeup brand with art- and fairytale-inspired products, has entered retail in the United States via a launch at Urban Outfitters.
Headquartered in the city Hangzhou, the brand is using the retail partnership to facilitate broader access to American consumers. Founded in 2016 by Yang Zifeng and Zhou Tiancheng, it’s already made digital headway with Americans. Flower Knows initiated international e-commerce on its website in 2022, and the U.S. has become its largest overseas market.
The brand generated over $10 million in revenues from North America and Europe in less than a year and a half and has sustained 400% growth since its international premiere. Still, U.S. customers often deal with frustrating long wait times for Flower Knows’ deliveries from China.
Gong Fang, CMO of Flower Knows, says, “With the objective of keeping the momentum of growth and to provide the U.S. customer with better services and localized connections, we decided to set up our footprint in the States.”
Flower Knows received inbound interest from a few U.S. beauty specialty retailers, according to Fang, but decided to go with a six-month retail exclusive at Urban Outfitters to kick off American retail because of a customer demographic overlap between the retailer and the brand. About half of Flower Knows’ customers are under 25 years old, and Urban Outfitters’ target customers are between the ages of 18 and 28 years old. After Flower Knows’ six-month exclusive agreement with Urban Outfitter ends, the brand plans to enlarge its U.S. retail footprint.
“We decided to start with Urban Outfitters because, at least the buyer that we met, he just gets the brand so well, and I think aesthetics-wise is such a great fit,” says Fang. “It’s almost like a match made in heaven as our first destination.”
“We are not just a brand with customers, I think we are a brand with fans.”
Urban Outfitters’ website will stock 15 Flower Knows’ bestsellers, including Swan Ballet Embossed Blush, Strawberry Rococo Cloud Lip Cream and Little Angel Collection Embossed Highlighter. Each product retails for $35 or less. The brand is doing a trial run at 10 Urban Outfitters locations with a tighter product collection, and it plans to host in-store activations at them. The goal is to eventually roll out across Urban Outfitters’ U.S. retail network of 200-plus stores. The retailer is doing co-branded social media posts with Flower Knows to spread the news of its arrival.
Until now, Fang notes the brand has created products primarily with Chinese consumers in mind. She says they generally prefer subtle shades to produce so-called no makeup makeup looks. In contrast, she points out Americans favor more pigmented colors and inclusive options for diverse skin tones. The brand has shade extensions on its product roadmap to cater to a wider array of skin tones.
Early this year, singer Lana Del Rey posted about Flower Knows organically on Instagram. The brand worked with over 2,000 influencers around the globe last year. It gravitates toward creators with a girly aesthetic and rarely participates in paid media content. Fang says, “People love to post Stories and Reels about us mostly out of love and also the connection with our brand.”
Flower Knows’ eye-catching, intricately designed packaging propels sharing images and videos of the brand on Instagram and TikTok. It has nearly 2 million followers on the two platforms combined. Unboxing videos tend to perform the best for Flower Knows, with closeups of embossed details on the products drawing people in.
Fang says the brand introduces product collections three to four times a year in a similar cadence to fashion brands. Its products draw from literature and art like “The Little Mermaid” and “Swan Lake.” Fang says, “Flower Knows is about adding a bit of magic to your everyday life. We would love to become a brand that empowers more people from all walks of life to connect and embrace their inner child. That’s our long-term goal. It’s not very data-driven, but we have a strong believe that we’ll achieve that.”
Flower Knows’ most recent collection, Little Angel 2.0, which has baroque and romantic colorful glass, was released in January, while the most popular collection, Strawberry Rococo, which incorporates strawberry desserts and the Rococo style of the 18th century, hit the market in 2022. Collections are discontinued or revamped after a year if they underperform. Repurchase rates for new collections hover at 40%.
Fang says, “We are not just a brand with customers, I think we are a brand with fans.”
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