Aine Kennedy started The Smooth Company from her home in 2022
Local beauty brand is first to get Dutch chain listing
LUCAN entrepreneur Áine Kennedy continues her amazing rise in the business world, becoming the first Irish beauty brand to secure a listing at Dutch department store chain de Bijenkorf.
Ms Kennedy is behind The Smooth Company, a beauty product supplier which she started at her Lucan home in 2022, packaging products in the family home.
Her journey was well documented on social media featuring the assistance of her grandfather Billy and sister, to help get the venture going.
The launch at the chain’s flagship store inAmsterdam this week was attended by Ms Kennedy and family members, including her grandfather, as well as the Irish ambassador to the Netherlands, Ann Derwin.
Ms Derwin told the event that the company’s Dutch debut was a “true testament to the innovation and global ambition of Irish enterprises.”
It took Maynooth University Entrepreneurship graduate Áine nearly two years to perfect her award-winning Smooth Stick, but today, The Smooth Company has customers in over 70 countries globally, with a growing range of award winning beauty products.
The Smooth Company’s products are available in Brown Thomas as well as Dublin Airport, and Kennedy is aiming to expand, having recently launched in the UK at a store in Chelsea.
In May, Kennedy was among a delegation of 140 of Ireland’s top entrepreneurs who travelled to Japan for the annual EY Entrepreneur Of The Year CEO Retreat.
The event, which ran from May 26-31, saw entrepreneurs travel between Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, visiting key business and academic sites, and participating in a comprehensive programme of executive coaching, education and networking.
The de Bijenkorf company – which is owned by Brown Thomas Arnotts parent Selfridges – will stock the Smooth Company’s hair-smoothing products in its eight stores.
