Inspiring Conversations with Francois Damide of Crafting Beauty and Solstiss

Today we’d like to introduce you to Francois Damide.

Hi Francois, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in a small town on Northern France, and from my early teenage years, I fell in love with America. The America I would discover via Hollywood TV series. I had the opportunity to visit the US 2 times, thanks to school organized trips, and those experiences sealed my decision to move here.
My career started at Solstiss, a lace company from Caudry (One of the 2 traditional lace making centers of France), and when the management decided to open an office in NY, I was able to persuade them in choosing me (talk about fate).
My move was not easy, but I feared returning to my home town, so I had to work so hard to make it a success. As such, Solstiss became the leader of French textiles in the USA, with a penthouse’s headquarters in the heart of the garment district of NYC, with a showroom in Miami, and LA. Our customers were the who’s who of the American fashion designers, such as Ralph Lauren. Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, to name a few…
But after 20 years of successful development for myself and the company, I decided to leave the company, to discover new challenges. So I joined fashion designer Lela Rose, to become her president.
Then I was hired to open the US subsidiary of a French fragrance company from Grasse, Arthes, where I learned the inside-out of fragrance creation, packaging design, and manufacturing. That’s when I fell in love with the complete process of perfume development, and its industry.
Which led me to open my own company in 2010, Crafting Beauty. As such, Crafting Beauty offers a turnkey service of fragrance creations, packaging designs, and manufacturing the finished products, for brands. Our customers are a mix of celebrities, influencers, artists, fashion and accessory brands, hospitality, etc. Such as Kristin Cavallari for Uncommon James, actress Kate Walsh for Boyfriend, the rapper Future, the Fontainebleau Miami, Adore Me, Bobby Jones, etc. We now have a subsidiary in Paris, and I moved to LA 3 years ago, with the goal to open a Crafting Beauty office in 2026, to better serve our celebrity clientele.
Further more Solstiss called me back in 2017, to revamp the US company, I developed in my early days in the US. So I am sharing my time between Crafting Beauty and Solstiss. I reopened our showroom in DTLA, in partnership with DP silks; and launch the Solstiss Academy.
Now, feeling very creative since I am in LA, I rediscovered my DJ passion, created my music studio at home, and now start playing at clubs (under DjFrancois) such as the Classic Cat or SkyBar on the Sunset Strip, or corporate events. Those DJ gigs are actually an outlet, a therapy from my busy business schedule, so I enjoy them very much.
Lastly, I have to say, that now I am living in LA, I am finally enjoying my American Dream, the way I envisioned it back in my small town, in front of the TV. Why? Because those American TV series were all shot in LA and its vicinity, like Charlie’s Angels, Starsky & Hutch, Colombo, The Fall Guy, Knight Rider, etc…

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not a smooth road!!
I have lots of ideas, and I have clear vision when I feel and understand a project. But my biggest struggles is to convince people to help me in achieving the goals for the project.
Like when I had the idea of Crafting Beauty, I ended up building the company, its structure, its clientele on my own, as no-one believed in me and my business model. So I used my savings, retirement plans, and contracted loans to fund my project. It’s only after 10 years, when the company reached a decent size and has a good track records, that people said: “Francois, what a successful business model you built here!”

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
As mentioned before, I had the idea of offering a turnkey service of fragrance creations, packaging designs, and manufacturing the finished products, for brands. Our customers are a mix of celebrities, influencers, artists, brands, hospitality, etc. My idea came from my experience from the fashion and fragrance industry. Back in 2009, I realized that a small fashion and accessory brands wanting to do their own branding perfume, had no way to go, unless they were famous. And if they were a “household name”, they will easily get a licensing deal with a big beauty groups such as Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Parlux, Coty, etc. But if you are a brand with a 10 million+ revenues, and a few stores, this was impossible. So my business model was to give these companies, the perfect opportunity to create they own exclusive and signature fragrance, such as an EDP, candle, room-spray etc. Thnaks to a production minimum of only 1,000 units, one of the lowest of the industry. This low investment enables these brands to elevate their image, and get a fast ROI. Usually within a few months.
And now that DtoC business is key to success, there is not a better time for any brands, celebrities, influencers, artists, to launch their dream fragrance category, for their followers and customers. Not only it will give them a prestigious image, but they will increase they income!

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
An entrepreneur, is a risk taker, but I never felt it. Why? Because in everything I do and commit, I always take a blind leap of faith, as I always see the Big Picture (I love that US expression). The problem with this attitude, is that I discovered hurdles that I did not foresee in my “blindness”, but I always keep the faith in each project, that what makes it a success.
The other part of me, is that I am Street Smart, not Book Smart nor academic. This DNA helps me definitely in the US, as people do not ask you what diplomas did you get, but rather what’s your accomplishments, and what you can do. I would not be where I am today, and gather such an amazing experience, if I had stayed in France…

Contact Info:

• Website: www.craftingbeauty.com; www.solstisslace.com
• Instagram: @crafting.beauty; @solstissUSA; @DjFrancoisLA
• Facebook: crafting.beauty; solstissUSA
• LinkedIn: crafting.beauty; solstissusa, Francois Damide
• Twitter: francois.damide