Going back to her early days on YouTube in 2016, makeup artist Violette Serrat, known to many fans by her first name only, has built a dedicated following for her casual take on quintessential French girl beauty. But Serrat’s approach to building a brand has been anything but casual. She launched her beauty brand Violette_Fr in 2021 with $2.75 million in seed funding and found an audience with products like her moisturizing Boum-Boum Milk facial mist and sheer Bisou Balm lipsticks. The brand closed a round of Series B funding in December for an undisclosed amount to prepare for global expansion.
On Friday, Violette_Fr took a step forward to reach a global audience with its arrival at Sephora. The brand will be available both online and in-person, eventually rolling out to more than 190 North American Sephora stores.
“Retail was always an objective for me,” said Serrat, who was until recently also the creative director of makeup at LVMH-owned beauty and fragrance brand Guerlain. “I really want to create what I call a ‘modern maison,’ and maison means craftsmanship, a sense of service. … I knew that, to give that experience, the best way will be to do it in person.”
According to the company, Violette_Fr has seen 74% year-over-year growth in business revenue each year since its launch as well as a 107% year-over-year growth in customer acquisition, largely derived through online channels.
Sephora is not the brand’s first go at retail. In 2023, Violette_Fr arrived at Mecca, the Australian multi-brand retailer, and joined Paris’s Le Bon Marché following a pop-up. But partnering with Sephora as its exclusive brick-and-mortar retail partner in the U.S. represents a larger step forward.
“There is all this background work that has to be done, that I think should be done before you sign a contract with a big retailer,” said Serrat. “It’s a huge investment for a brand [to go into Sephora]. You have to pay for your gondolas, and you need a few team members to help with operations.”
Key to preparing for a launch at Sephora were the additons of two hires to the Violette_Fr team: Heidi Merris, who joined as president in 2023 and has worked with makeup artist-founded brands like Pat McGrath and Bobbi Brown, and Jennifer Osman, who joined as svp of finance and operations in 2023 after years with Oscar de la Renta.
“I wanted to hire a president that had experience with Sephora, because even though I’m very involved in the business, for this, you need somebody that had that experience,” Serrat said of Merris. Shoring up the brand’s supply chain to keep products consistently in stock was also crucial before jumping into Sephora, she added.
Violette_Fr will receive prime real estate at Sephora through both dedicated gondolas and a spot in Sephora’s “Next Big Thing” section. Such a debut across online and brick-and-mortar is not a given for untested brands at Sephora: Sarah Creal, the 40-plus makeup and skin-care brand founded by beauty veteran Sarah Creal, launched at just 22 Sephora stores in 2024. Makeup artist Fara Homidi’s namesake brand debuted online-only at the retailer in 2024, with plans for a brick-and-mortar rollout in 2025. Kulfi, the makeup brand catering to South Asian consumers, launched on Sephora.com in 2022 before arriving at select locations a year later and all stores across the U.S. and Canada in 2024.
“Sephora is thrilled to introduce Violette_Fr and their artistry driven, innovative clean makeup and skin-care products to our clients,” Alison Hahn, svp of makeup and fragrance merchandising at Sephora, told Glossy in a statement. “Violette_Fr offers approachable formulas inspired by effortless French beauty, combining bold and minimalist makeup styles. We look forward to welcoming this brand to our Sephora community and know that it will be a wonderful addition to our growing makeup assortment.”
Serrat is keen to maintain a strong DTC business even as the Sephora partnership grows. But even with the brand’s online origins, she said an in-person launch at Sephora was a must in large part due to the ability to educate consumers about the brand through sales associates. Since the brand’s arrival at Mecca, Serrat said she has spent time gathering feedback from the retailer’s beauty associates and training them on the products and hopes to do the same at Sephora.
“I don’t think companies realize how important [sales associates] are,” she said. “They are your ears, your voice, your eyes. They’re your direct contact with your clients.”
Violette_Fr’s expansion comes at a time when the color cosmetics category, traditionally the bread and butter of beauty, has struggled to find its footing amid more rapid growth in categories like fragrance and hair care. Both Estée Lauder and Coty reported declining sales in makeup in recent quarters. According to data from Circana, prestige makeup sales grew by 5% in the U.S. in 2024, while mass makeup sales declined 3%.
But Serrat is confident that consumers will gravitate towards makeup brands driven by expertise even in a crowded product landscape. Part of her brand’s strength at retail, she believes, is its tight edit of products. Violette_Fr does not currently offer any complexion products, though it does cross categories with a dry shampoo and perfume oil. Those, along with its makeup and skin-care selection, will be available at Sephora.
“I kept always saying in my career, ‘There’s room for everyone, so don’t stress.’ And now I’m like, ‘No, actually, there’s an overwhelming amount of brands, an overwhelming amount of products.’ It makes it really hard for people to shop,” said Serrat. “But I think makeup artist brands, or expert brands, like a dermatologist brand or a hairstylist brand, are a bit protected. People want a brand with a person behind it who has expertise.”
