Along with her daughter Olivia, French-born, New York-based Sylvie Chantecaille set up Chantecaille as a fragrance house in 1977 before expanding into cosmetics and skincare. From a small family business, it has burgeoned into a cult name with outlets and devotees worldwide. The pair were in town recently to launch several new products.
Why did you set up the brand? I have worked in the beauty industry all my life - most notably on the creation of Estee Lauder's Prescriptives range - and I have a passion for beauty. I love the business, creating new and better products and giving women things that are hi-tech, natural, easy to use and effective. Above all, they must make women look and feel fantastic.
For example, we have two new make-up palettes [containing seven eye shades and one cheek colour; $980] called Sylvie and Olivia. For my namesake, I picked the colours I use all the time because I know they work together. Olivia did the same. Each colour is backed by a magnet so they can be easily removed and refilled, and the box has a large mirror. Those tiny mirrors are no use to anyone.
How did you feel when your Real Skin foundation became a cult best-seller? It was amazing because we hadn't advertised and suddenly we heard there were queues for it and fights breaking out in stores when supplies ran out. All of it was word of mouth. It was a huge gamble because foundation is tricky to get right but we wouldn't have launched something we didn't feel would work. I hate the way some foundations accentuate lines and flaws but women look splendid when they are wearing the right product.
What is it like working with your daughter? It's wonderful because we're very close and make a great team - I bring industry experience and knowledge about the needs of the mature woman and Olivia has a strong sense of fashion and PR and what the younger generation wants. My husband also works for the company now. Especially when we were starting up and it was very intense, we had a hard time not immersing ourselves in work.
Do you have your own research and development laboratory? No. We work with whoever is most brilliant in the field of expertise we need and our products are created in France, the United States, Italy, Switzerland and Japan. I demand excellent skincare so we work with a Swiss lab, which also develops the La Prairie line; we ship French rosewater to Japan for another product because the Japanese have the know-how we want but not the ingredient. After all, when your name is on the package you want to do something you're proud of as well as creating something other people will want. It's scary sometimes.
Do Hong Kong consumers receive all the products the US and Britain get? Absolutely. We launched Chantecaille simultaneously in Hong Kong, New York and London, and this place is still very important to us.