Xavier Leclerc de Hauteclocque

Premium Beauty News - What does the Beauty Solutions entity represent today vs. the entire Albéa offer?

Xavier Leclerc de Hauteclocque - Beauty Solutions has existed for 30 years and has always had the ambition to meet customers’ needs in terms of innovation and agility. In 2014 in your columns, François Luscan was already saying: "Beauty Solutions intends to propose a comprehensive promotional offer and manage complex projects." Today we want to go one step further, particularly on new growth territories represented by emerging brands and digital. To this end, we want to offer a complete range of services, which includes market trend analysis, innovative pack + formula solutions combining internal and external expertise, a time-to-market approach, a turn-key project management and full mastery of the international supply chain. To achieve this, we can rely on our industrial network across the world, which is, with 38 production sites, by far the largest on the market and enables to propose in each region a local offer, "Made here. Made responsibly." But we also have a strong and recognized network of partners.

Premium Beauty News - Your strategic line is clearly "more services" and make-up is a priority target!

Xavier Leclerc de Hauteclocque - The Group has completed its industrial transformation with, as you know, very significant investments, particularly in France, China and Italy. We also completed the integration of companies we had acquired in the different regions. Today, all this enables Beauty Solutions to develop its offering via Full-Service solutions, with or through partners, as well as regular innovations to animate the most dynamic ranges on the marketplace, and particularly make-up.
The priorities of Beauty Solutions are Agility and Speed, by combining entrepreneurial spirit and industrial leadership.

Premium Beauty News - To achieve this, what exactly are you proposing?

Xavier Leclerc de Hauteclocque - We are launching "Fast-Track Beauty", a platform of expertise dedicated to "time-to-market" issues.

Concretely, Fast-Track Beauty is a selection of, inventive, trendy and quickly available packagings. In addition, they are easily customizable whatever the chosen solution: applicators, "Full-Service", promotional items, modular moulds or decorative options. Everything can be combined according to the needs of the customer because "Fast-Track Beauty" is a real multi barrelled offer!

Premium Beauty News - Is Fast-Track Beauty a "time to market" offer?

Xavier Leclerc de Hauteclocque - A recent survey with our customers confirmed that time to market is the main challenge facing brands today. This why, our commitment, with Fast-Track Beauty, is to offer shortened lead times and reduced runs with standard packagings and decoration offers. Because the market requires both flexibility and an ability to cope with unpredictable hikes in demand.

On the side of formulas, we rely on a worldwide network of recognized, inventive, reliable and audited formulators.
Needless to say, samples will be available quickly, and compatibility tests will be anticipated.

Premium Beauty News - Visitors to the MakeUp in Paris event, which will open its doors the day after tomorrow, will be the first to discover this new approach.

Xavier Leclerc de Hauteclocque - On the occasion of MakeUp in Paris, Anne Rutigliano and the Beauty Solutions teams will present visitors the first collection in this Fast-Track Beauty platform, the FOCUS Collection. It is a ready-to-go collection of packs and formulas, in line with the "colour expression" trend, for a routine eye make-up inspired by make-up artists and beauty bloggers at the forefront of make-up application techniques... FOCUS is a combination of specifically chosen packs, formulas and applicators, in a "straightforward" range with a stylish graphic design.

And as with any collection stemming from the Fast-Track Beauty platform, customers will be proposed several options: choose the collection as it is and benefit from maximum time-to-market, choose empty packs, customize the formula...

Fast-Track Beauty, it’s here and it’s now!