Lancôme, founded by Armand Petitjean in 1935, is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2015. “[This is] an opportunity to celebrate the women who inspire the brand, from its customers to its ambassadresses, and to affirm all year long through a series of joyful initiatives that indeed, life is beautiful with Lancôme,” noted the company in a statement.
“Above all, we wanted this celebration to be a moment of joy,” explained Lancôme General Manager Françoise Lehmann. “Because – for Lancôme – beauty goes hand in hand with happiness. So it’s a birthday in the form of a celebration, which each month will reaffirm the brand’s greatest ambition: making women’s lives more beautiful with Lancôme!”
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“Ceci n’est pas une rose” will make its debut online on 20 February (Photo credit: ©Lancôme) |
As part of the celebrations, in partnership with director Thomas Tyman, Lancôme has created a short film called “Ceci n’est pas une rose”, which aims to portray everything the brand embodies. It will be unveiled online on 20 February, the day preceding the exact anniversary of Lancôme’s creation (21 February 1935).
The Surrealist short incorporates a series of scenes that showcase the “house with the rose”, as if in a dream. It uses traditional animation techniques, with each sequence literally unfolding in a real paper theatre. It took 200 hours to hand-cut the 50 elements that comprise the various scenes, which were assembled on a set measuring 800sq m, during a shoot that lasted over 30 hours.
“More than a brand film, this is a feel-good movie that encourages women to love life with Lancôme”¦here, now and for a long time,” noted the brand.
Another highlight is a coffee-table book published by Editions du Regard, which will be available to purchase from March. Written by Stéphane Guibourgé, it relates the story of a house whose ambition has always been to offer women the freedom to flourish, according to the brand. It features illustrations by David Downtown, Vahram Muratyan and Cécilia Carlstedt, and photographers Charles Helleu, Nico, Alexi Lubomirski and Nick Knight.
The book will also be present on Lancôme counters, which will begin the brand’s birthday celebrations on 8 March, to mark International Women’s Day.
Furthermore, a number of special items will be highlighted on-counter, including limited-edition sets of iconic Lancôme products. Digital celebrations will include the first limited-edition line available exclusively from the Lancôme website: three original colours of L’Absolu Rouge inspired by heritage shades.
In July, during couture week, Lancôme will host a celebratory evening in Paris featuring ambassadresses past, present and future, along with other key contributors – photographers, directors or make-up artists – who have helped to shape the brand’s image.
Lastly, to close the year, Lancôme will offer two super-deluxe objects to pay tribute to the fine craftsmanship and the French artists who have worked alongside it since the beginning. The first is a new interpretation of the Lancôme lipstick “Les Jumelés”, created in 1958. The second is a jewelled edition of La vie est belle L’Absolu de Parfum.
