Proya Tightens Its Grip on Flower Knows in Major Board Shakeup

Gen-Z favorite Chinese makeup brand Flower Knows has recently seen a major leadership shakeup.

Hou Yameng, the general manager of Proya Cosmetics and son of Proya's founder, has taken over as chairman of the company. The brand's founder, Yang Zifeng, has stepped down from this role to become a regular board director.

Meanwhile, Proya's chief financial officer, Jin Chang, has been named supervisor, replacing Fanggong Yiliu, chief marketing officer of Flower Knows. Zhou Tiancheng, co-founder of Flower Knows, has also left the board.

With Proya’s deputy general manager, Jin Yanhua, already on the board, three of the four top executives at Flower Knows are now from Proya. The brand's founder is the only remaining exception.

Hou Yameng, General Manager of Proya Cosmetics and Chairman of Flower Knows

Proya first invested in Flower Knows in 2025, buying a 38.45% stake for 428 million RMB. In May of this year, Proya added another 351 million RMB, raising its stake to 51% to take majority control. This latest leadership change further cements Proya's control over the brand.

With its girlish, vintage, and maximalist aesthetic, Flower Knows has become one of the most popular C-beauty brands. It has even gained a strong following in overseas markets like Japan and the US.

Proya has become China's largest domestic beauty company by sales, with annual revenue surpassing 10 billion RMB (1.48 billion USD) in 2024.

Naturally, a corporate giant buying an emerging independent brand raises a big question: Can Flower Knows keep its core identity?

However, at the annual shareholders' meeting last month, Hou Yameng addressed these concerns. "Whether a brand is acquired or built in-house, we give it space to operate independently," he said. "Our company mainly provides support with supply chain and finance. For Flower Knows, we will step in to help when needed, but we will respect the founders' vision and their freedom to create products as they see fit.”