PARIS INSPIRATION TOUR: Must-see stores in Le Marais

Continuing our Inspiration Tour of Paris, the team highlights its most inspiring new spots in Le Marais, a neighbourhood known for its mix of independent boutiques and innovative concept stores.

Discover some of our must-sees in Le Marais:

Korres - Photo Cosmetics IC

Korres

76 Rue Vieille du Temple, 75003

The Korres boutique in Paris's 3rd arrondissement symbolizes the Greek brand's commitment to natural beauty and botanical science. The store seamlessly blends apothecary tradition with scientific innovation, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere reminiscent of an old pharmacy. The boutique’s material palette of stone, wood, and glass fosters an organic ambience that reflects the ingredients' purity.

Products are displayed by range and organized by skincare category or ingredient. Posters on the walls highlight the benefits of key ingredients such as honey and Greek yoghurt.

DOVER STREET MARKET

35-37 Rue des Francs Bourgeois, 75004

The iconic retail concept of Dover Street Market, founded by the visionary designer Rei Kawakubo, has landed in a 17th-century Parisian mansion. The store experience is rooted in discovery and driven by experimentation, distinguished by its innovative fusion of art, fashion, and culture set within a disruptive retail environment. Unlike traditional stores, DSM is conceived as an artistic space where every corner offers a new narrative. The interiors are intentionally non-linear, featuring bold art installations, innovative architectural structures, and product displays that challenge conventional retail design. Clothing is showcased on rounded, curved forms, ensuring that no piece touches the walls, creating a fluid, immersive experience. Raw materials like concrete, metal, and wood create an industrial aesthetic, contrasting with luxurious elements and contemporary artworks. The store operates as a living art gallery, allowing customers to explore and discover iconic fashion pieces in a setting that constantly evolves.

Dover Street Market Paris - Photo Cosmetics IC

Dover Street Parfums -  Photo Cosmetics IC

DOVER STREET PARFUMS

11 bis Rue Elzevir, 75003

Dover Street Parfums is the only DSM location in the world devoted entirely to beauty, featuring a carefully curated selection of niche brands known for their unique vision. The store's design is distinctly futuristic, starkly contrasting its surroundings. Fragrances are displayed in egg-shaped niches, showcasing iconic fashion favourites like Maison Margiela, Helmut Lang, and Byredo, alongside cult brands like Arpa Studios, Golf le Fleur, and Raer, as well as scientific skincare lines. Spanning two floors, the store strongly emphasises non-binary cosmetics, reflecting a modern approach to beauty.

The store layout is designed to invite customers to explore and uncover hidden gems in its various nooks and crannies, offering a shopping experience filled with unexpected discoveries.

NEURAé

48 Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie, 75004

The Neuraé concept store goes beyond merely selling products; it fosters a holistic experience that encourages customers to connect their emotional well-being with their skincare routine, establishing itself as a must-visit destination for innovative wellness spaces.

The store offers the brand's full range of products and features three distinct spaces dedicated to education and wellness. These include a meditation corner, a masterclass area, and an interactive headband experience. Here, a headband connects to a screen where the wearer’s emotions, evoked by applying Neuraé products, are visualized as artistic expressions. This interactive approach blends skincare with emotional well-being, making the store a truly immersive experience.

Neuraé - Photo Cosmetics IC 

INSPIRATION TOURS

Our Inspiration Tours are individually tailored guides to the world’s best beauty cities. From the K-beauty capital of Seoul to the laid-back cool of Los Angeles - we know where to shop and what to see to inspire your next innovation.

Contact the team today for more information.

Follow us on LinkedIn (Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation) and on X, Instagram and TikTok (@cosmeticseeds)

PARIS INSPIRATION TOUR: Around the 8th arrondissement

The team recently wandered from the 8th to the 1st arrondissement, seeking inspiration in Paris’s most innovative retail spaces. Along the way, we encountered the diversity and depth of the city’s shopping scene - from dynamic pop-ups to immersive concept stores.

Discover 6 of our favorite finds from the 8th:

KAIST X AMOREPACIFIC - Photo Cosmetics IC

KAIST X AMOREPACIFIC

Centre Culturel Coréen, 20 rue la Boétie, 75008

A collaborative installation from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) and the K-beauty group Amorepacific explores the fusion of technological innovation and beauty. Merging minimalist Korean design with interactive technology, the experience begins with a skin tone scanner that identifies the visitor’s ideal color palette and recommends products from the Amorepacific brand, TONEWORK. Following this, AI technology analyzes the specific undertones of the skin using a small card placed on the jaw to suggest the most suitable shade of Hera foundation, tailored to desired preferences (a luminous finish, a darker shade, or specific undertones like yellow or pink). The recommended shades can then be tested on-site, with over 205 custom foundation options available. Purchases, however, must be made online.

CAFE DE LA ROSE

52 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, 75008

Located on the iconic Champs Elysées, the Café de la Rose Lancôme offers a multisensory experience that captures the essence of the brand through its star ingredient: the rose. Upon entering, the subtle fragrance of roses immediately immerses visitors in the Lancôme universe. The café's décor is a palette of pinks, accented with touches of gold and white, and accompanied by oversized floral motifs and elements inspired by the brand’s fragrances. A cafe counter serves rose-inspired pastries crafted by Nina Metayer (recognized as the world's best pastry chef in 2023 and 2024), which can be eaten out on the flower-covered terrace or taken away in personally customized gift boxes. The whole experience is elevated by dancing robots that pluck a Lancôme rose from a display, allowing customers to spray it with their chosen fragrance.

CAFE DE LA ROSE - Photo Cosmetics IC

SKIMS POP-UP - Champs Elyséess - Photo Cosmetics IC

SKIMS

60 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, 75008

The SKIMS pop-up store (until September 3rd), situated in the atrium of the Galeries Lafayette Champs Élysées, presents an edited selection of products from the celebrity brand. Though located at the heart of the department store, the presence of SKIMS is signposted by mannequins dressed in the brand's signature shapewear, displayed prominently at the entrance and along the main staircase. The pop-up allows clients to explore the Fits Everybody line, featuring underwear, bodysuits, and t-shirts, as well as the Seamless Sculpt collection, which includes shapewear, loungewear, and ready-to-wear pieces in cotton. Additionally, select items from the swimwear collection are also available.

ON

65-67 Avenue des Champs-Élysées,75008

Cult running shoe brand ON has unveiled its second store in Paris and its largest to date. The 1,513m² flagship occupies a classic Haussmannian building, but the Parisian charm on the exterior gives way to an industrial and functional interior that has become a signature aesthetic of the performance-led brand. Stone walls, LED light panels, and concrete floors create a modern, minimalist atmosphere, complemented by industrial display units, counters, and stainless steel shelving. The store spans three levels: the first floor features tennis and training collections, the lower level is dedicated to running shoes, bags, and accessories, and the upper level showcases lifestyle products, indicating the brand's expansion into a broader fashion label.

ON - Champs Elysées - Photo Cosmetics IC

Issey Miyake Paris - Photo Cosmetics IC

ISSEY MIYAKE

28 Rue François 1er, 75008

Located on Rue François 1er, the 360m², two-storey ISSEY MIYAKE store combines art and fashion in a setting characterized by contemporary architecture. The interior, crafted by Tokyo-based designer Tokujin Yoshioka, features two walls entirely covered in anodized aluminum, painted in a custom shade of orange, creating an energetic and futuristic atmosphere. The store reflects Issey Miyake's approach, emphasizing minimalist design and a detailed exploration of materials and forms, consistent with the brand's avant-garde ethos. The store is designed to function as an integrated brand experience, displaying the innovation and craftsmanship associated with the brand's global reputation. Here, visitors can discover elements from the Pleats Please, Homme Plissé, A-POC ABLE, Bao Bao, and 132 5 collections, with the Homme Plissé collection further supplemented by an explanatory corner featuring videos that delve into the details of the collection.

MAISON DYPTIQUE

7 Rue Duphot, 75001

Designed as a living space, this 400 m² boutique on Rue Duphot blends retail with culture, within the architectural elegance of a Parisian apartment. The boutique is a showcase of craftsmanship and artistry, hosting exhibitions, workshops, and events throughout the year. A key feature of the Diptyque experience in this boutique is the dedicated space for fragrance customization. In the summer, the boutique transformed to host an ephemeral space celebrating the centenary of Villa Noailles, where ten young French artists were given carte blanche to create unique decorations on the large-format candles available for sale.

Diptyque - Photo Cosmetics IC

INSPIRATION TOURS

Our Inspiration Tours are individually tailored guides to the world’s best beauty cities. From the K-beauty capital of Seoul to the laid-back cool of Los Angeles - we know where to shop and what to see to inspire your next innovation.

Contact the team today for more information.

Follow us on LinkedIn (Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation) and on X, Instagram and TikTok (@cosmeticseeds)

Trend Inspiration: Maison&Objets 2024

Wint Design Lab - Photo by Cosmetics IC

With the theme of Tech Eden, the 30th-anniversary edition of Maison&Objet (18-22 January, Paris) invited exhibitors to consider how the symbiosis of technology and nature will inform future design scenarios. 

Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation’s Coralie Arme, Forecasting & Insights Consultant, explored the show at Paris’ Parc Expo Villepinte, to uncover the top 3 fields of innovation to inspire future-focused solutions for the beauty industry. 

“This year's theme explored the vital links between technology and nature, showcasing future-facing design that improves overall well-being and prioritizes environmental sustainability.” Coralie Arme, Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation Consultant in Forecasting and Insights. 

1.Symbio-tech: Augmenting nature

WINT Design Lab perfectly embodied the show’s symbiotic emphasis, as the Berlin-based design and research lab explored the relationship between ecological and technological responsibilities.

The studio overcomes disciplinary silos to tackle today's challenges through various projects including bio-textile innovation. Collaborating with biotech startup Mimotype, WINT has developed a high-performance outdoor textile created from 100% collagen. Through this future-proof innovation, the design lab is tapping into the potential of quick iteration cycles.

In beauty,  there is a growing normalization of human augmentation through technology (AI-supported healthcare, adaptive and personalized systems, circadian rhythm lighting, etc).  Harnessing technology to stimulate natural processes, Solaris Laboratories’ LED Intensive Hair Growth Stimulating Brush is an advanced hair and scalp treatment technology that helps prevent hair loss and reverse thinning hair. 

Wint Design Lab - Photo by Cosmetics IC

Solaris Laboratories NY - Photo by Cosmetics IC

2. Upscaling waste: Imagining new-gen materials

Mâche&Maché is a culinary design studio committed to exploring the hyper-future of food. For the show, at the “Inspire me!” by Peclers corner, the studio showcased “Papier Alimentaire” - an edible (and decorative) packaging material made from waste fruit and vegetables designed for large-scale use in the food industry. According to the studio, for sustainable food to be widely accepted, it must offer a more desirable experience than today's standard fare.

In the wellness corner, Japanese brand Incense Kitchen showcased a new incense created from repurposed matcha. The brand advocates recycling matcha into tea incense (instead of perfume) to prevent the wasteful disposal of fine matcha particles in factory machines and air purifiers, providing an alternative and more sustainable outcome.

Mâche&Maché x Peclers - Photo by Cosmetics IC

Incense Kitchen - Photo by Cosmetics IC

3. Healing homes: Anti-anxiety interiors

When one crisis follows another, the actions needed to respond sometimes seem out of reach. Modern society is gripped by an anxiety epidemic, and designers are charged with providing solutions that holistically ease discomfort. The notions of sensoriality and fluidity are thus at the heart of tomorrow's design challenges. 

Furniture and objects exhibited sinuous, undulating curves to give everyday settings the air of primitive landscapes with spiritual dimensions. Roundness is as de rigueur as ever, transforming living spaces into cocoons of comfort. Sofas, armchairs, and chairs play a common score, that of an enveloping, reassuring hug.

Mathieu Lehanneur's "Outonomy" offers an alternative vision of survivalist habitats. By questioning the kind of life we want to lead, Outonomy proposes a return to an original cave, with the comforts we no longer wish to give up.

In beauty, Austrian skincare brand Be […] my friend uses only the purest organic, plant-based ingredients to provide maximum care for the skin, while at the same time minimizing stress. The two pillars of the brand are to elevate the way the skin is treated, while simultaneously elevating the way the environment is treated. 

“Outonomy” by Mathieu Lehanneur - Photo by Cosmetics IC

Be [..] my friend - Photo by Cosmetics IC

The Cosmetics IC Take

Tech Eden suggests a Protopian vision of the future - a natural awakening, enriched by technological innovations - from biotextiles and 3D printing to AI-powered design. Nature remains omnipresent through radical interpretations of color, form, and material.

In our latest Makeup Inspiration from the US report - Protopian Beauty - we investigate the latest product innovations in the US and explore how technological acceleration is paving the way for a  more progressive future. For more information on this report, and for details on our upcoming animations at MakeUp in Los Angeles (Feb 14/15 2024) - drop us a line today.