To obtain the Vogue Business publication, signal up right here.On a hillside outdoors Grasse, historic capital of perfume in the south of France, stretches Lancôme’s Domaine de la Rose, the primary of its form owned by the L’Oréal-owned magnificence model. The roses right here are cultivated organically, surrounded by stone partitions restored to guard biodiversity. Irises are additionally planted below olive bushes “as a result of they get alongside”, says Antoine Leclef, property panorama engineer, as he walks by the plots of verbena, lavender, tuberose, curry flower, fruit bushes and Centifolia roses.Lancôme purchased the four-hectare discipline in 2020. It tapped Paris-based structure agency NeM to renovate the property’s pink home, which is for use for employees coaching, and internet hosting perfumers, journalists and influencers.However, the rose fields are rather more than a photograph alternative for Instagrammers. They’re additionally on the coronary heart of the model’s improvement on quite a lot of fronts — together with its sustainability focus, its improvement in China and its ongoing push into hyper-luxury. Lancôme annual gross sales, at present topping €4 billion, are anticipated to hit €5 billion by 2025.The fields of Grasse have attracted the eye of luxurious manufacturers for a very long time. The hyperlink between Chanel and Grasse dates again to the creation of Chanel N°5 in 1921, when Gabrielle requested a Grasse perfumer Ernest Beaux to create a scent (Chanel N°5 options loads of native jasmine). Now, the largest status perfume participant worldwide per Euromonitor, Chanel entered an unique native partnership with the Mul household, again in 1987 and simply final 12 months Chanel snapped up a further 10 hectares for jasmine (for extract), roses, irises, geranium and tuberose (featured notably in the Gabrielle perfume.) Chanel additionally owns a bastide (a small nation home) for occasions and is at present renovating Gabrielle Chanel’s villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, an hour-drive away.Lancôme’s Domaine de la Rose and Rose home.
Photos: Ludovica Arcero and Lancôme
https://www.voguebusiness.com/magnificence/why-lancome-and-chanel-are-buying-up-flower-fields-in-grasse
