Exploring Cosmetic Valley

From January 27 to 31, Cosmetic Valley is the subject of a week-long initiative designed to show the importance of this extensive area, a short distance from Paris, where major players in the French cosmetics industry are based. Among the themes are product design and development, industrialization, open innovation, and production facilities.

Spanning three regions around the French capital, Cosmetic Valley is of prime significance to the cosmetics and fragrance sector. More than one in every 10 products sold worldwide was manufactured in this area, which attracted a range of industry players before acquiring official “competitiveness pole” status in 2005. It is a collective success in which the LVMH group has played its part, and the purpose of the week-long program is to explore Cosmetic Valley in more detail.

Participants will discover that LVMH has a major presence within the concentration of talent and expertise that constitutes Cosmetic Valley. First and foremost, there is Hélios, a brand new 18,000 m² facility on the outskirts of Orléans which, since November 2013, has been home to the majority of LVMH Research teams. Here, an open innovation project known as Skinovalys has recently been launched.

It is also at Hélios that our research teams partner with the group’s various Houses to design and develop their future cosmetics. Using the example of Dreamskin, a product launched in January 2014 by Parfums Christian Dior, visitors will discover how our innovations take shape, and subsequently how they are transmitted between LVMH Research and the House, as they head for a process of industrialization.

The week will finish with the presentation of the production facilities of Guerlain, one of the pioneers of Cosmetic Valley when it opened a site in Chartres in the 1970s. Alexandre Oulès, the company’s Operations Director, will give a video presentation of what sets Guerlain apart, notably in the manufacture of its fragrances and cosmetics, but also in the future planning of its production facilities.

See you Monday for a week-long tour of Cosmetic Valley!