Winning the Blue Beauty race 💄
There is no longer desirability without sustainability
Combining luxury and sustainability, a "nice-to-have" not so long ago and a necessity today. Discover Incubateur HEC Paris alumni Nicolas Gerlier, a 39-year-old entrepreneur who did not hesitate to quit his corporate job 5 years ago to create the product he dreamed of and most importantly a Maison in total alignment with his values. No compromise!
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Nicolas, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Sure, I have a rather unusual hybrid background in Arts & Finance. I worked for more than 16 years for global beauty and fashion groups as a marketing director, until I decided, 5 years ago, to launch my own project, driven by the firm belief that we can combine luxury and sustainability. La Bouche Rouge was the result of a new impetus that I wanted to give to my professional and personal life and I knew that I could not find in a large group.
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I believe that the major transformation for the Beauty sector for the coming decade is the Blue Beauty concept – a beauty clean for oneself and clean for the planet
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Could you give us your perspective on the evolution of sustainability within the beauty industry over the last 10 years?
If you look at the last ten years, we could see that what has boomed is the concept of Green Beauty, which recognizes the need to clean the formulas in the beauty products. Now what is quite incredible is that 10 years later, even the greatest researchers of the R&D teams don't really raise the question of silicone. Silicone is a micro-plastic that infiltrates into the pores of the epidermis. We know that it is an unnatural barrier that is not good for the skin. And beyond that we know that it is a disaster for nature, because it is a non-organic material that is neither compostable nor biodegradable.
Our belief, from the very beginning, was that the concept of Green Beauty was not sufficient because if it offered the clean for oneself proposition, it did not offer the clean for the planet one . This led us to make the concept of Blue Beauty our own, and develop products that are good for ourselves and for the planet.
I believe that the major transformation for the Beauty sector for the coming decade is the Blue Beauty concept – a beauty clean for oneself and clean for the planet, with a major challenge at its heart: getting rid of plastic. Beyond the ecological aspect, plastic is today not or hardly recyclable, and therefore has no or low market value. When we see that the most advanced markets pay fortunes to underdeveloped countries to get rid of their plastic waste, we can observe that we are just shifting the problem.
The Cosmetics industry is the 3rd biggest plastic polluter in the world, so I think it's normal that when we create any beauty product today, we have to be conscious about the impact it can have on the long term.
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One thing is certain, there is no longer desirability without sustainability
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Do you think that luxury and more specifically beauty Maisons struggle with sustainability? If yes why?
Sustainability is a real challenge for all of us. Both for the luxury industry and for the mass market. The particularity of luxury, however, is the fact that it is supposed to bring a virtue which is to sublime the everyday's life. And the question I ask is how can we sublime the everyday if we destroy the future? How can we offer a dream that impacts our children's future? For me this is no longer acceptable in 2020.
As much as we can understand that the mass market can hardly take the leading position on the matter, as its role is to allow access to consumption to the greatest number, we can’t accept that the luxury Maisons, with their margins and their business models, fail to take the lead when it comes to sustainability. One thing is certain, there is no longer desirability without sustainability.
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Well said! You have been one of the first to make sustainability desirable, tell us more about La Bouche Rouge 's genesis, what problems were you trying to solve with this project? How has the project evolved since its launch?
Around 75% of the global selective market is represented by French brands. La Bouche Rouge is still the only French brand that reconciles luxury and sustainability. As much as it is a great opportunity for us to develop this business, it is also very challenging. If others haven't done it, it is because it is not an easy task. We have established our own laboratory for this purpose, our own design, our own patented formula, our own manufacturing tools. All this based on our commitment to reduce plastic in beauty from A to Z, not only in packaging but in the whole value chain - production, formulation, supply chain, packaging and distribution.
We started with a single product, a lipstick, because I simply couldn't afford to do more. And I thought it was important to do perfectly what I had envisioned and to take the risk of doing it on a single item. It's a choice I haven't regretted because it was a very complex process: being able to stay on track with the formula, the product design, the distribution and the execution of the brand. Especially since this choice also proved to be a strategic one, since it allowed us to create an iconic product right from the launch of the brand.
In September 2020 we’ve launched 22 new products so we now offer a complete cosmetics collection. From the launch of an iconic product to the very first French cosmetics line in the world that combines luxury and sustainability. It's a trajectory that I had in mind from day one and I'm glad I reached it, because it wasn’t said we could achieve it.
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The silver lining of the current crisis is that we don't need to convince anymore about the importance of what we believe in and that businesses driven by a positive impact are the ones being accelerated today
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What's next for La Bouche Rouge?
The next step for La Bouche Rouge is Blue and it's happening in China! When Yves Klein launched its International Klein Blue, he said it was the purest expression of blue. Just last week we launched our Klein Blue limited edition in collaboration with Art021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair. It's a major milestone for our brand, having been selected among the most desirable brands in the world to express Klein Blue with our products. The global context prevented me from being there in person, but our entrepreneurial mindset allowed us to find a blended way to bring this project to life. And it's only the beginning, as in December 2020 our Klein Blue edition will be distributed by one of the world’s leading Chinese luxury retailer SKP and SKP-S in Beijing, making us the very first animal cruelty free brand to be distributed in China.
Those are great signals that our conviction was sound, the silver lining of the current crisis is that we don't need to convince anymore about the importance of what we believe in and that businesses driven by a positive impact are the ones being accelerated today.
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What are your top 3 tips for Founders who want to innovate and have a positive impact on the world?
Make the positive economy project a priority for your business and think the positive impact on the planet but also on humans. La Bouche Rouge has decided to focus on the the access to water because it is the first cause of infant mortality. When you are a luxury brand that by definition addresses those who have everything, you must also be able to address those who don't even have the minimum.
Have convictions but no certainty. This is the basis of everything. If nothing that I did at La Bouche Rouge was planned to the millimeter, it is my strong initial conviction that allowed me to federate a community around my project.
When you're an entrepreneur and a pioneer, you have to accept that not everything is perfect. Just look at Apple and its first version of the iPhone…
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What added-value did the Incubateur HEC Paris bring to you?
Its sharp selectivity and therefore a real recognition of the value of my project. I was the 1st beauty startup to join the incubator and it allowed me to build notoriety and credibility that helped me to raise funds.
Its unmatched community and a true school culture based on the sense of mutual aid. With a university background, I was able to discover this culture via the incubator and it totally changed the vision I had of the Grandes Ecoles.
Its impressive entrepreneurial culture. I met a majority of young people driven by the desire to set up companies, whereas when I was their age I dreamt about joining a large group. This change of paradigm is something extraordinary that should push large groups to reinvent themselves.
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Is there one piece of advice that you’d give to a startup joining the Incubateur HEC Paris?
Give back and stay humble. When you're part of the program you receive everything you need to thrive in your business. Be sure you give back, share your experience, your know-how, your network and you will receive in return !