De Mamiel Joins Barneys New York’s New Conscious Beauty Assortment

De Mamiel is entering Barneys New York as the department store retailer unveils a conscious beauty collection of health-oriented brands.

The brand from U.K.-based holistic facialist, aromatherapist and acupuncturist Annee de Mamiel is among 10 skincare and ingestible newcomers to Barneys, which also include Nuori, Oskia London, Aurelia Skincare, DNAEGF Renewal, Moon Juice, Grown Alchemist, WelleCo, Rejuvenated and Pure Elixir. De Mamiel’s arrival at Beverly Hills and New York locations is likely to lift a U.S. business that currently accounts for roughly a quarter of its sales.

“Barneys’ concept of conscious beauty really resonates with me, and the way I produce my products and want people to use them. Creating these products is about making a difference in people’s lives and helping them deal with daily stress,” says de Mamiel. “From an awareness perspective, it’s really going to elevate our presence.”

De Mamiel hasn’t chased retailers. Instead, they’ve chased the brand. In its infancy five years ago, de Mamiel broke into Shen Beauty and Content Beauty & Wellbeing. In 2014, the brand made a significant distribution step by launching at Net-a-porter. Today, it’s found in around 35 stores globally. In addition to Shen Beauty, the brand’s American retail network stretches to Anthropologie, CAP Beauty, Credo, Goop and Neiman Marcus, where it’s being trialed. De Mamiel’s revenues are projected to climb 70% to 80% in its fiscal year ending in April.

de mamiel barneys new york

“A lot of people have told us that department stores are big and scary, and cost a lot to be in. This [Barneys] is a toe in the water for us into that market,” says Chris Fay, chief operating officer at de Mamiel. “We’re in three locations, and that’s manageable to educate and support the staff. They are very keen on investing in their staff rather than us sending in our own people. We are not experts in the U.S. department store market. We don’t know how it’s going to go. It’s big enough that it could make a difference for us, but not so big that it will overwhelm us.”

Fay and de Mamiel admit that establishing de Mamiel’s American retail operations hasn’t been completely smooth sailing. They’ve traveled to the U.S. two to three times a year, but haven’t had someone permanently on the ground in the country until last month when de Mamiel hired an employee in New York to assist with retail training. Along with bringing on the New York employee, the brand is boosting marketing materials to inform store staff about its products.

“I was very naïve when we got involved with retail. I thought, if you have a retailer and the product is on the shelf, people will buy it,” says Fay. “With each retailer, there’s probably been a slower-than-expected beginning. They stuck with it because they believed in it, and people came back after they bought it. We’ve gotten better over time at educating the retailers and giving them tools to help sell the products.”

Perhaps de Mamiel’s gradual starts at stores are because it picks up on trends well before they explode. Eighteen months ago, the brand released the five-item Atmosphériques urban skincare range tackling the effects of pollution just as anti-pollution beauty products were gaining steam. De Mamiel has been at the forefront of the sleep skincare movement, too, with its Sleep Series of five products.

De Mamiel barneys new york
Annee de Mamiel

Overall, de Mamiel’s assortment spans 16 products, and bestsellers are Altitude Oil and Seasonal Facial Oils. Barneys is carrying the brand’s face products, but not its body products. “I created every product to work on the physical, cellular and emotional level,” says de Mamiel. “It’s not a lovely little product that looks good in the bottle or box. It really, really works.”

De Mamiel’s retail expansion has been limited by its production process. The brand manufactures products itself, and de Mamiel estimates its oils can take up to six months to complete. However, the brand has been implementing strategies such as outsourcing the boxing of merchandise to external personnel to accelerate and ramp up production.

“We are focused on a smaller number of retailers and really building a core business with those retailers. We are slightly constrained by production. People talk about small batches and, for us, that means a big production of cleansing balm is 64 [units]. We think we can produce a lot more, but we’re not going to be a high-volume house,” says Fay. “We have no interest in becoming a mass manufacturer.”