A lush garden, style cred and social media savvy helped Australian Richard Christiansen build a hip Californian brand – along by a few famous friends.
“What is this filth?” says my partner, brandishing a tabloid-sized catalogue that has arrived in the mail. “It’s got aof naked people in it!” That’s from Flamingo Estate, I patiently explain. They make that rosemary candle we like. On the cover is a giant tongue with what looks like an acid tab on the tip. A, it promises. Inside, attractive people in strategically placed soap suds shower in orange groves.
Unlike the very trendy and expensive soap Christiansen had been using, he says the run-off from this soap didn’t kill his roses. Nor, for that matter, the 149 other species of vegetation in his lush garden, including agave, rhododendron, frangipani, eucalypt and at least half a dozen types of basil. Christiansen tells me he moved from New York to Los Angeles because he “wanted to feel sexy again” – and to that I’d say, mission accomplished.Credit:We’re lounging on his sunflower-lined terrace on a Monday morning in May, nibbling on dried strawberries and gazing on the Babylon below. The strawberries, which retail for $113 a jar on the Flamingo Estate website, are currently its bestselling product.
Harvey now guides the look and feel of Flamingo Estate. A huge part of its brand identity is shaped on Instagram, which remains the top referral method for customers. Certainly, Christiansen’s home is endlessly photogenic. But Flamingo Estate also accrued buzz on Instagram because of the vegetables. “I was like, ‘What tables?’ She’s like, ‘Isn’t this a restaurant?’. I was like, ‘No, it’s my home. There’s my bed. There’s a kitchen. It’s a one-bedroom house.’ ”By all accounts, Teigen and Legend had a great time at dinner. On the Flamingo Estate Instagram page, you can see Legend playing the piano in Christiansen’s music room. After a couple more dinners, Teigen and Christiansen collaborated on three Flamingo Estate jams inspired by Teigen’s Thai heritage.
Mecca creative director Marita Burke says successful beauty brands “have to be the conduit between product and promise”. That’s why she chose Flamingo Estate to launch at Mecca this month, its first foray into Australia. As Burke notes, “a red lipstick is a red lipstick unless there is a wonderful story to be told that takes you beyond it.”
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