tone followed by a slowdown With a portfolio of nine brands spanning multiple categories and a distribution model primarily focused online, Proya became the first Chinese cosmetics firm to surpass USD1 billion in annual sales in 2024. That milestone, achieved after seven consecutive years of double-digit growth, was seen as a watershed moment for the Chinese beauty industry as a whole.  However, the company failed to sustain its momentum. Proya’s operating revenue fell 1.7 per cent to CNY10.6 billion last year from 2024, and net profit shrank 3.5 per cent to CNY1.5 billion. The flagship Proya skincare brand, which generates the bulk of group revenue, saw its income decline 10 per cent to CNY7.7 billion. After years of rapid expansion, with revenue rising by more than a third in both 2022 and 2023, the company’s momentum has decelerated, highlighting how difficult it is for even the strongest Chinese beauty brands to sustain high growth after reaching scale. Amid the weaker Chinese economy, the group’s makeup sub-brands, Timage and the newer Insbaha, have been relatively bright spots, posting revenues of CNY1.3 billion and CNY256 million, respectively, up 5.4 per cent and 125 per cent. Makeup, in other words, was growing while skincare stalled.  What does controlling stake actually mean? Proya’s initial investment in Flower Knows last August gave it a 38.5 per cent stake, positioning it as the second-largest shareholder, while leaving co-founder Yang Zifeng in operational control. The follow-on purchase of 12.6 per cent from Yang himself for CNY351 million tips the balance to 51 per cent and brings Flower Knows fully onto Proya’s balance sheet. Proya is now the parent. Proya stated that its decision to invest in Flower Knows reflects not only its confidence in the growth potential of China’s emerging makeup segment but also a deliberate bet on the brand’s global momentum. The company expected its 2025 annual revenue to exceed CNY1 billion and planned to increase investment in Europe and North America while solidifying its position in Asian markets. Why Flower Knows fits neatly into that thesis Founded in Hangzhou in 2016 by avid cosplayers Yang Zifeng and Zhou Tiancheng, Flower Knows is heavily influenced by the visual storytelling elements of cosplay. It intentionally carved out a niche, following a fairytale-girlish aesthetic, or what Chinese consumers call ‘shaonu xin’, meaning the inner world of a young girl.  The products were designed as collectable objects as much as cosmetics, including ornate embossed compacts, pastel packaging that resembles Rococo antiques, and eyeshadow palettes housed in mermaid-shaped cases.  Its core proposition is escapism and emotional resonance, delivered through the slogan ‘Live Your Fairytales’. For a generation of young consumers navigating high academic and career pressures, the brand’s whimsical storytelling offers a sense of identity and emotional relief. Flower Knows initiated international e-commerce on its website in 2022, and the US has become its largest overseas market. The brand generated more than $10 million in revenues from North America and Europe in less than a year and a half and has sustained 400 per cent growth since its international premiere. The brand entered Japan early, and by March 2021, Flower Knows had expanded into more than 1000 Japanese stores before pivoting westward.  In 2024, Flower Knows’ overseas revenue exceeded CNY100 million, with the US market surpassing Japan for the first time to become its largest international market. China still accounts for the overwhelming share of total revenue, but the direction of travel is unmistakable. “What Proya bought is not the brand. It is the operating platform behind those numbers: Western retail relationships, offline merchandising, and an English-language brand voice built from China,” Miro Li, founder and brand consultant at Double V. “These are exactly the muscles Proya’s flagship is still trying to build on its own. “Chinese acquirers buying foreign brands and scaling them inside China have worked many times: Anta with Arc’teryx, Proya itself with Off&Relax. The opposite is rare: a Chinese parent buying a Chinese brand already winning in Western markets. The pool of candidates is still very small.”