Being a B&LLA: “Our collaboration supports a positive and more sustainable future in beauty”

With the 2023 Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards just weeks away, we’re continuing our series of catch-ups with former winners.

This time, it’s the turn of Michelle Feeney, founder of sustainable British brand Floral Street Fragrances, who reveals how partnering with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam led to Sunflower Pop – an uplifting vegan perfume – picking up a B&LLA in 2022 for Best Brand Licensed Health & Beauty Brand.

Floral Street’s Van Gogh Museum Sunflower Pop and Sweet Almond Blossom home fragrance range has been nominated in this year’s B&LLA Best Brand Licensed Gifting Product or Range category.

How did it feel to win a B&LLA? What did it mean to you and the team?

We were thrilled! Floral Street is the Van Gogh Museum’s first fragrance partner, so we were incredibly proud to be recognised for this authentic partnership. Our collaboration supports a positive and more sustainable future in beauty and to be awarded this B&LLA acknowledges that the world has woken up to the need to do things differently.

Can you explain Floral Street’s USP?

Floral Street is an ‘upstart’ challenger in the beauty world – we aim to be a beacon for change, stimulating the industry with affordable, luxury vegan fragrances matched to your moods. We also educate and help guide consumers on better ethical choices that bring sustainable scent into their lives and homes. I always wanted to help people who are curious about fragrance to become connoisseurs of scent – much like with wine and chocolate – and saw an opportunity to engage them in a unique and immersive journey of discovery.

Our aim is to change the conversation around fragrance by telling our story through ethical products that help empower and motivate you to feel good about life. We connect with people of all ages through our Scentschool experience and by inspiring them to express themselves and how they want to feel each day through fragrance.

Can you tell us a little about Sunflower Pop? Have the products been successful in the market and gained a lot of traction on social media/in the press?

Van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers masterpiece and his message “If one truly loves nature, one finds beauty everywhere” [taken from a letter to his brother Theo] was the stimulus for Sunflower Pop. It’s such a vibrant and happy fragrance. Combining the inspiration from this past master painter with the talent of our present master perfumer brought together the worlds of fine art and fine fragrance.

People have discovered us through this iconic masterwork being featured on our fragrance bottles and packaging, and we’ve gained a whole new audience because of it. Our brand’s social following has increased as influencers and TikTokers around the world have been creatively inspired by its bright and expressive scent and the mood it creates. The buzz that was generated when it launched has definitely gathered momentum – Sunflower Pop is consistently in our top three global bestsellers and I get regular reports from visitors to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam who have also experienced it there.

Can you explain briefly how your partnership with the Van Gogh Museum came about? What was the thinking behind the collaboration?

As an independent, sustainable British brand, we were really honoured when we were approached by the Museum. It’s an internationally renowned institution, but it shares our ethos and principles.

Through a shared love of nature, we had an opportunity to bring fine fragrance to a wider audience as Van Gogh has done with his art. We wanted it to celebrate and respect the environment and it had to be positive – so following a rewarding visit to the Museum it obviously had to be Sunflowers. This became the inspirational mood board for our uplifting, citrus, fruity Sunflower Pop fragrance. Crafted with responsibly sourced ingredients, it instantly transports you to the South of France where Van Gogh painted his masterpiece.

Can you tell us about any developments that have taken place in the 12 months since you won your B&LLA?

So many people love our Sunflower Pop eau de parfum, they wanted their homes to smell like it, too. So, last year we extended our collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum into ethical home fragrances. Our master perfumer was once again inspired by Sunflowers and also by Van Gogh’s painting Almond Blossom, and created two new and different interpretations of these masterworks. Van Gogh brought these florals to life visually and we have brought them to life in our Sunflower Pop and Sweet Almond Blossom sensory scent experiences for the home.

Are you able to share details of your plans for the coming months?

We are launching our second Van Gogh fragrance globally this summer – and it will be our biggest launch to date!