auty industry would be quite the understatement. Before launching her own brand, Serrat climbed the corporate ladder in product development consulting and eventually led teams for legacy beauty companies, including Sephora, Estée Lauder, and Guerlain. Along the way, she had worked on the editorial side of the industry as a makeup artist on sets for publications such as Vogue, Dazed, and W Magazine, and ran a popular YouTube channel focused on skincare and makeup application tips. In March 2021, Serrat took the leap and launched her own direct-to-consumer beauty brand with an 11-piece collection spanning six categories, including makeup, skincare, and haircare. In June 2021, Violette_FR completed its US$2.75 million seed funding round, led by the Female Founders Fund (FFF), Felix Capital and Greycroft Ventures. By December 2024, the brand had completed its Series B funding round, which was led by Silas Capital, a New York-based emerging growth equity firm, and co-led by Experienced Capital, a Paris-based operational growth equity fund. These investments supported the brand’s initial DTC push. They enabled expansion into multiple retail locations in France, Australia, Canada, the UK, and the USA. Key retailers include Le Bon Marché, Mecca, Sephora, and most recently, Liberty. In March 2025, the company reported that Violette_Fr has seen 74 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth in business revenue each year since its launch. In an era when many legacy and indie players alike are struggling to stay afloat, let alone expand, Violette_FR has managed to establish a stable foundation upon which to build its future. How Violette_FR successfully bottled up the “modern French girl fantasy” Kimber Maderazzo, a professor of marketing at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, believes that what sets Serrat apart is her authentic approach to beauty.  “Long before launching Violette_FR, she built deep credibility as a professional makeup artist and creative visionary, not just an influencer,” she told Inside Retail.   “Her artistry, refined yet approachable, resonated with women who admired her effortless ‘French girl’ aesthetic and her philosophy that makeup should enhance individuality, not conceal it.  “That authenticity made her following incredibly loyal, and when she introduced her brand, it felt like a natural extension of who she already was rather than a commercial pivot.” Similarly, brand strategist and marketing consultant Bethany Paris Ramsay credits the brand’s success to its bottle, which embodies the modern French girl fantasy – a minimalist yet romantic approach to beauty, without feeling formulaic. “The products are beautiful and sensorial, and each launch provides a new story to be a part of… Pair all of this with a visually distinct brand world (think moody, painterly, French) and it’s a DTC experience that feels like a lifestyle versus a storefront.” From influencer to founder: Building brand stability on authenticity Ramsay remarked that the brand’s growth has been largely built on Serrat’s presence, as some consumers trusted her and were already fans through her social media content. It’s not a coincidence that Serrat’s YouTube and Instagram channels (which have a combined following of 981k followers) and beauty brands share the same name. She explained that the launch of her own beauty brand felt like an “intentional and natural extension” of Serrat’s brand, which, paired with her professional background as a makeup artist and product developer, has given the company a sense of authenticity that many other brands have attempted but failed to create. Maderazzo thoroughly agreed with this sentiment, adding, “Unlike many influencer-founded lines that lean on hype, Violette_FR grew from genuine trust and a long-term connection with her audience. Her followers around the world see her as a friend and expert, not a marketer.” “That said,” Maderazzo elaborated, “scaling a brand, especially under a deal like this with Liberty, requires pairing that creative vision with operational discipline. Her next phase will focus on translating brand love into reliable delivery, characterised by consistent inventory, faster fulfillment and improved visibility from supplier to shelf.” However, the longtime beauty executive, Maderazzo, doubts this will be an issue for Serrat to overcome. So long as Serrat follows strong business strategies shown by other successful creator brands as case studies, she should be able to achieve similar long-term success. One such strategy is learning how to hire the right people with defined experience in the field to lead specific departments, rather than trying to handle everything yourself. Serrat showcased this by the addition of two hires: Heidi Merris, who joined as president in 2023 and has worked with other 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, while preparing to launch at Sephora in February 2025. “We’ve seen other creator-led brands make this same shift successfully, evolving from artistry and storytelling into operational excellence once they partnered with the right strategic players, and I think Serrat is following that same playbook,” Maderazzo concluded. “With Liberty’s infrastructure and her creative leadership, she’s well-positioned to strengthen the logistics and supply chain side without losing the brand soul that made her stand out in the first place.”