EXCLUSIVE: Macy’s Partners With YSL Beauty for 50th Surrealist Garden-themed Flower Show

Macy’s annual Flower Show is back and bigger than ever.

This year, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Macy’s Flower Show is making a splash with its largest and longest event to date, complete with an installation throughout the Herald Square location, brand collaborations, limited-edition products, its Bouquet of Deals sales event and a partnership with YSL Beauty. The event, which historically ran for two weeks, will go on for three weeks this year from April 27 through May 18.

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“We have about a million people that go through the Flower Show. We just felt so much demand,” said Sharon Otterman, Macy’s chief marketing officer.

This year’s theme is “Surrealist Garden,” which will be reflected by oversize florals and hydrangeas for clouds. To create the show, the retailer partnered with ManscapersNY for the landscaping and The Bouqs Co. for the fresh flowers.

While Macy’s normally puts on the show a bit earlier on the first day of spring, this year the Flower Show team, which also coordinates the Thanksgiving Day Parade and 4th of July Fireworks, opted to push it back slightly to coincide with Mother’s Day.

“We purposely moved it this year so we can really help our customers with gifting for Mother’s Day,” Otterman said.

“In addition to it being bigger, [it’s immersive]. There’s not only things to see, there’s things to do. There’s 8,000 plants and 45,000 stems. We actually have 45 different varieties of flowers,” Otterman said. “It will be fun, because we’ll be refreshing the flowers. It’s a fun challenge to be able to do that.”

This year, the retailer, known as the fragrance destination, has partnered with YSL Beauty for the event.

“We have the same ambition in mind. We both want to be part of culture,” Otterman said. “This [has been] a tradition for so long for New Yorkers, and YSL [Beauty] is in the culture business as well. So much of their fragrance and their brand also stems from being in the floral area. They appreciate flowers. They appreciate the significance.”

YSL Beauty’s U.S. general manager Juliette Ferret added: “We wanted to take the opportunity to partner further with Macy’s. We started last year during the Thanksgiving parade. We had a big takeover of the windows during the holidays [and]…the Flower Show is more than a retail event. It’s a cultural moment.”

At Macy’s Herald Square, guests will walk through an immersive experience called “YSL Beauty Art of Flowers,” which will highlight three of the brand’s signature fragrances, including the new, alcohol-free Libre L’eau Nue, Libre and Myslf. The notes of each will be mimicked through the themed floral displays.

“This experience enables us to bring to life our fragrances in a very daring, artistic, visual statement,” Ferret said. “It’s not only about visibility, it’s about vibrancy, so being present to make [the guest] feel and live our fragrances.”

Within the area, guests will also be able to test YSL Beauty products, including the newest Loveshine Plumping Lip Oil Gloss, receive a bouquet of lilies and get fragrance bottles engraved.

In addition to the partnership with YSL Beauty, Macy’s will be rolling out limited-edition, themed merchandise across home, sleep and jewelry, as well as several other collaborations for the event. With Lego, the retailer will showcase installations and on select days offer customers the opportunity to build their own bouquets from Lego bricks. There will be collaborative products with brands like Kendra Scott, MarieBelle and Lovery.

With the Flower Show pushed back later this year, the team is hopeful it will coincide with some spring sunshine, which seems to be delayed thanks to an onslaught of dreary days in New York City.

“I keep saying April showers are going to bring May flowers,” Otterman joked.

Perhaps some Macy’s flowers as well.

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