Fawn & Co was founded in July 2019 by Hann Chia, a former investment banker and a Formula Botanica graduate. The company is behind Fawn Labs, a beauty education arm that runs clean beauty workshops.
The workshops are held in its own lab premises which members – known as Fawnlings – are able to return when they like to create their own products.
In 2020, Fawn Labs was hampered by the COVID-19 restrictions, which spurred Chia to launch a retail arm to tide the firm through the pandemic. The brand’s first product was a do-it-yourself clay mask.
Chia told us that her intention was never to develop a retail line. However, the response to its products have been so overwhelming that in 2021, it decided to diversify the line with two ranges and added two products to its line-up: an oil-to-milk double cleanser and skin essence.
“Two years ago, we launched the clay mask and cultivated a regular following. Since then, they have demanded new products,” Chia told CosmeticsDesign-Asia.
According to her, the sales of its DIY clay mask alone increased about 300% compared to the previous year. She added that the firm is excited about its new products and the potential of its retail arm.
“Our double cleanser is our new hero product, there’s huge momentum for it,” said Chia. During the brand’s latest pop-up at local shopping event Boutique Fairs, the brand sold two times more of its double cleanser than any of its other products.
The company is set to expand the range further and has plans to launch one or two more products around every six months.
The firm was coy about details of its new product launch pipeline but told us that it was working on the research and development of single-ingredient serums.
“What I’m noticing is that when we simplify products, people understand them better. I want to strip it down so people will only use what they really need and not complicate something that can be very simple,” said Chia.
In addition to the new products, the firm is also set to spin off into a separate range targeting a separate demographic.
At the moment, the company is retailing the products via the pop-up events it has been able to hold. It also takes order via Instagram and Facebook.
In the next three to five months, it will also be available on its new website. Additionally, the company said it was on the lookout for stockists.
As COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease, Fawn & Co is expecting demand for workshops to pick up. At the same time, Chia told us the firm will continue to build on its retail line, which is steadily attracting a stream of loyal customers.
“With retail, I believe we have to be facing consumers directly which has been a bit of a challenge in the past two years as events were hard to come by and even if there were events, they were very controlled. So, I think now the retail side can only grow from here because we will be doing more events.”
