PARIS — Almost no niche fragrance brand launched in the 2000s is independent today, but Memo Paris bucks that trend. Ever pioneering, it remains family-owned and is undergoing a renovation.
Founded and introduced in December 2007 by Clara and John Molloy, Memo draws on their worldwide travels and adventures. After soul-searching, they have opted to maintain ownership.
“But to do that, we’ve got to also challenge ourselves and bring in outside talent,” said John Molloy, Memo’s chief executive officer. “The brand has to be way bigger and stronger than what we can be.”
Neither he nor his wife, Memo’s artist director, talked numbers, but industry sources estimate that the brand will register 35 percent growth in sell-in and sell-out, and that it should generate about 150 million euros in retail sales this year.
Over the past two years, changes have been afoot, including their working with new management and on a new identity. They’ve signed on brand consultant Sarah Andelman, for example.
“It’s people who have always inspired me,” said Clara Molloy. From its start, Memo has worked with artists.
“Now, you can feel it in the product. It surrounds the shops,” she said. “We do the same — but better.”
A Memo Paris boutique featuring Jean Jullien illustrations.
Courtesy
There is more dialogue with the artists who bring their distinct vantage points. Memo recently worked with French illustrator Jean Jullien for the international launch of the Odéon fragrance. That was first introduced exclusively in the brand’s Rue Cambon store in Paris five years ago, where it became the bestseller.
Memo borrowed an image from Jullien’s painting of a Parisian sky and his illustrations of a man for the limited-edition bottle and other activations. “He is very well-known in Asia and has a strong fan base in Paris,” said Molloy, who’s been a long-standing fan, too. “Jean Jullien has this genuinely young, joyful vibe.”
She found the back-and-forths with him enriching. “He gave me new perspective,” Molloy said.
Memo’s new team said given the favorable response to the scent, its distribution needed to be expanded. The fragrance — created by Symrise perfumer Aliénor Massenet — “is warm, but fresh,” said Molloy, adding Odéon is “almost multicultural, like Paris is.”
Memo currently has two boutiques and is sold in department and independent stores — equivalent to approximately 480 doors worldwide altogether. The brand has its own subsidiaries in the U.K., France and the U.S.
“The next step is building up the teams in each of these countries,” said John Molloy, who is looking for a store location in New York City. There is no rush, however.
A focus will be on growing in the U.S. market, Memo’s single largest at present. “But it should be bigger than all of Europe together, which it’s not today,” he said. Europe ranks first, followed by the Middle East, Asia, then the U.S.
Memo’s new retail concept will debut in Abu Dhabi in January. “Then we’ll be redoing our existing stores in the new concept,” Molloy said. “Our plan is by the end of ’26 to have a whole new chapter on the brand.”
That involves everything, including new packaging and communication methods. A five-year strategic plan has just been instigated.
The Molloys remain Memo’s sole board members. After that brand, they launched two others: Floraïku and Hermetica. Each now comprises its own individual company, rather than being all under one group.
Clara Molloy called the changes at Memo “a real reinvention, like a rebirth. It will bring us to another level.”
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