The Interview: Floral Street founder Michelle Feeney on growth, new perfume mists and retail expansion
With one of the most prolific careers in beauty, Michelle Feeney launched Floral Street in 2017, creating an independent British fragrance brand that has sustainability and eco-responsibility at its core.
In this interview with TheIndustry.beauty, Feeney speaks about her impressive career background, the inspiration behind Floral Street and its growth to date, the brand's new perfume mists, its recent launch at Boots, and more.
Michelle Feeney's story starts long before Floral Street, the Independent fragrance brand she launched in November 2017 at age 51. An experienced public relations and brand-building specialist, she began her career in PR in the 1980s before moving to the US to set up her own agency.
She was later headhunted by The Estée Lauder Companies to work across its Prescriptives and Tommy Hilfiger brands, and in 1994, she quickly transformed the group's newly-acquired luxury skincare brand, Creme de la Mer, into an global success - and her achievements didn't stop there.
In 1997, Feeney was promoted to Vice President of Global Communications of MAC Cosmetics following its acquisition by Estée Lauder Companies. As part of the senior management team, she contributed to its rapid growth, launching into 40 countries and growing the business from a $65 million brand to a $1 billion brand.
During her tenure at MAC Cosmetics, which spanned seven years, she also created its senior artist programme and took a lead role in the MAC Aids Fund. To date, this initiative - now known as Viva Glam - has raised over $500 million.
Moving back to the UK in 2003, Feeney was appointed by investors LDC as CEO of St Tropez. Turning it into a household name, she created a $25 million business in the region, resulting in its acquisition by PZ Cussons in 2010. She then became CEO of the group's beauty division.
After a career sabbatical at age 51, Feeney decided to launch her own brand, Floral Street, taking inspiration from the diversity and vibrancy of London culture. With this, she set out to fill a gap in the fragrance market, championing both education and sustainability from the very beginning.
"I really didn't think the world needed any products. When you take yourself out of the industry, you see the world differently and I couldn't help but focus on all the waste that comes from beauty, particularly perfume," says Feeney.
"So, I wanted to use my 30+ years of experience to try and do something different for my sins. Through mood boards, I came up with what I thought the brand should be and what was missing from the market - there wasn't education, there wasn't sustainability, and at the time, there wasn't really anyone saying who the nose behind a fragrance was."
As a result of her background in beauty, Feeney was introduced to fragrance manufacturer Robertet, which uses sustainable organic, raw materials, to craft the brand's fragrances from responsibly sourced ingredients.
"The product was the most important aspect and then we folded out from there," explains Feeney. She prioritised sustainability from ingredients through to packaging, which was the next step for Feeney in the creation of her brand, with the desire to bring something different to the industry.
Introducing the first-ever pulp box for fine fragrance, Feeney partnered with an 180-year-old paper mill in the Lake District to develop the packaging. Reusable, recyclable and biodegradable, each pulp box is crafted with natural renewable wood fibres from responsibly managed forests, recyclable fibres and approximately one upcycled coffee cup. "We are happy to be giving new life to previously non-recyclable waste," shares Feeney.
Supporting this effort further, Floral Street now also works with a cupcycling company that collects these items from places like McDonalds, extruding the plastic for energy and using the paper from the cups for its outer packaging.
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First launching with eight scents, the brand has since expanded its range to 12 fragrances, including bestsellers Wild Vanilla Orchid and Wonderland Peony, as well as Sunflower Pop and Sweet Almond Blossom, both of which were created with the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam.
Now capitalising on growing demand for body mists, Floral Street has debuted three perfume mists, enriched with skin-loving ingredients. Initially launching with bestselling scents - Wonderland Peony, Wild Vanilla Orchid and Sweet Almond Blossom - the collection is designed to be worn alone or to power up with matching Eau de Parfums.
"This is a new and exciting category for us at Floral Street – it’s an all-over body fragrance experience for a new audience. Each perfume mist is revitalising and enveloping, with added skin benefits, and fragranced with our three top-selling scents in fully sustainable packaging," says Feeney.
"As a brand, we’re passionate about scent exploration, and empowering our customers to become connoisseurs of fine fragrance. Our perfume mists allow everyone to play and layer up our scents. They’re also the perfect introduction to fine fragrance for younger customers who are just discovering the mood-boosting power of perfume."
The formulations feature Actiscents, active ingredients and raw materials that add both fragrant and cosmetic benefits in one olfactory experience - with Wonderland Peony’s sandalwood, Wild Vanilla Orchid’s vanilla blossom and Sweet Almond Blossom’s ylang ylang all providing skin-soothing comfort through this fragrance innovation.
Each perfume mist also includes upcycled rose water (a by-product sourced from the production of rose essential oil) that has light moisturisation and antioxidant properties. "These help to simultaneously add benefits while helping to reuse ingredients for the good of the planet," adds Feeney.
Floral Street's product portfolio isn't the only area of the business that's expanding, having also grown both locally and internationally since its launch. First landing at Harvey Nichols, the brand also counts John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Space NK among its stockists in the UK.
For a time, the brand also operated its own store in London's Covent Garden - selling its products and also hosting scent schools to educate consumers on fragrance - but this was closed during the pandemic due to costs, an experience that provided Feeny with key learnings.
"I have funded Floral Street from the beginning. I still have full ownership, which I am very proud of," she says. "However, even with all my experience, starting a brand from scratch and getting momentum is the hardest thing I've ever done. Because there's so much attention to detail and love, everybody automatically thinks you're a massive brand, but we are now going from start-up to scale-up."
As for its international presence, Floral Street is distributed in 22 countries. Most notably, the brand launched into the US with Sephora and Australia with Mecca. Whilst Australia is strong, Feeny decided to withdraw slightly from the US, as the business didn't have the capacity. "I always have a vision to be bigger and better, but I really want to invest in what we've got in the UK first."
Focussing on its home market, Feeney is determined to continue building a very strong position in the UK. As part of this strategy, the fragrance brand has launched at Boots.
Available online and landing in 100 Boots stores this week, the high street chain welcomes the brand's full range of Eau de Parfums, as well as bestsellers like its fragrance discovery wardrobe, select gift sets, home fragrance and new perfume mists, housed in branded free standing display units.
"Boots is a brilliant British company that gives tremendous value and quality to its customers, so I wanted to be in its gang," reveals Feeney. Having always positioned itself as an accessible fine fragrance brand, this remains central to Floral Street's strategy as it continues expand and innovate.
