PARIS — La Perla is launching back into beauty, with a range of fragrances, body care and makeup that nods to the Italian innerwear house’s heritage.
The move comes after it was announced in October 2019 that La Perla Fashion Holding N.V., which operates the luxury lingerie label La Perla, had established a subsidiary dedicated to the beauty business. Called La Perla Beauty, it would leverage the opportunity to engage with a broader audience, including younger consumers.
In summer 2020, Revlon and La Perla ended their fragrance and beauty licensing agreement, as La Perla planned to integrate that activity more vertically.
“Now is a fantastic time to launch. The market is looking for something new and innovative,” said Peter Shaefer, chief executive officer of La Perla Beauty. “Also, it reflects a major shift within the mother brand itself, as it becomes more contemporary and [reaches] out to a greater audience.”
He said La Perla Beauty, which operates as a separate subsidiary, has a close collaborative relationship with the fashion house.
Limited-edition La Perla beauty projects have already been introduced over the past year — a fragrance, inspired by the house’s first scent from 1986, and a lipstick collaboration with La Bouche Rouge Paris.
However, La Perla’s beauty offer is being completely renewed now with the introduction of a high-end perfume line, signature scent, skin care and makeup collection.
“We wanted to create a ‘house of beauty’ — we call it internally — that is worthy of the La Perla artisanal heritage and unrivaled craftsmanship,” said Stephanie Fitzgerald, La Perla’s senior vice president brand, product and digital, who traveled to Bologna, Italy, where La Perla was founded in 1954 by corsetry maker Ada Masotti, to tour the workshop and delve into the archives.
Fitzgerald explained the high quality of the fragrance and beauty products is to reflect the values of women today.
The goal is to create everyday luxury for all women, as well, according to Shaefer. So the beauty offer includes an “haute parfumerie” collection of eight fragrances. Fitzgerald explained that they’re meant to reflect memories, or women can make memories with them.
“It’s like the lingerie — [they’re] fragrances for the big and small moments in your life,” she said, of the scents with names like About That Night and Just Give Me Roses, created with perfumers from Firmenich, Givaudan, IFF and CPL.
Take the example of the Invisible Touch fragrance. “It’s really an expression of the silk heritage, how it feels to wear La Perla,” said Fitzgerald, of the scent including notes of ylang-ylang and musks, which can be worn alone or layered with the other perfumes of the collection.
The scents’ colorful bottles, designed by Suzanne Dalton, are in hues such as light green or pink, coming with rounded caps in yellow or azure blue, respectively.
The eponymous perfume’s bottle is hand-drawn by Dalton, so not totally round — like a pearl’s shape — and topped with an iridescent white ball.
“These are the details that we’re going for,” said Fitzgerald, highlighting also the grosgrain swatch around the flacon’s neck.
The offer includes the 50-ml. signature scent retailing for 95 euros, while the 30-ml. collection fragrances go for 100 euros each.
The fragrances launch starting today on La Perla Beauty’s site and in La Perla stores. So do the brand’s three prebiotic, lightly scented vegan body care products: the Soothing Bath and Shower Gel, Nourishing Body Balm and Firming Body Lotion Serum, which are priced between 95 euros and 130 euros. A fourth product, the Energising Salts and Body Scrub, is slated for later this summer.
The body care products come in packaging inspired by ribbon and lace used by La Perla.
The color cosmetics line, with fragrance-free formulas, is due out mid-June. It includes eight matte, long-lasting lipsticks.
“We say there is a red for every woman,” said Fitzgerald. “The overall motto of our brand is ‘Confidence Is Beautiful,’ and we believe in the confidence-boosting power of a red lip.”
There are two lightly tinted Satin Lip Balms, four Volumising Mascaras, four glossy Liquid Eyeliners and three Sculpting Brow Gels.
Prices include 54 euros for a lipstick, 52 euros for a lip balm and 35 euros for an eyeliner.
Each product was eco-conceived, to bridge the gap between the traditional idea of luxury and sustainability, said Fitzgerald.
“Every one of our products, but the eye product for hygienic reasons, can be refilled,” she explained, adding packaging materials are recyclable. The discovery coffret, for instance, is made wholly of recycled FSC paper.
Already, La Perla Beauty has been granted the Positive Luxury Butterfly Mark, PETA Membership and an EcoVadis Bronze Medal.
La Perla Beauty’s rollout will continue in other key markets, including in Europe through distributors and North America direct to retailers.
La Perla executives would not discuss sales projections, but industry sources estimate the beauty line will generate 25 million euros in retail sales during its first 12 months.
“The brand vision, brand development and product development are driven by women,” said Fitzgerald. “Ada Masotti is such an inspiration for us.”
La Perla Fashion Holding N.V. is listed on the Euronext Growth Market, operated by Euronext Paris.
Amsterdam-based private equity firm Sapinda Holding B.V. bought 100 percent of La Perla in February 2018 from Italian entrepreneur Silvio Scaglia, who had controlled the firm since 2013.
Today, La Perla describes itself as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tennor Holding B.V. It is also an indirect majority shareholder of La Perla Global Management U.K. Ltd., the head office of the La Perla operating entity.