Oceanic inspirations

In his book Plancton, Aux origines du vivant (Plankton, at the origins of life) (2013), the French biologist C. Sardet celebrates the heritage and diversity of invisible, underwater organisms. Powerful images reveal a secret world of hypnotic splendor as we dive into this unsuspected community. Today, the sea is a major source of inspiration for the beauty market that draws on its evocative symbolism (rebirth, regeneration), its holistic or hedonistic values (purity, quality, nourishing power, healthiness), as well as its unique aesthetics.

Primary worlds

Released late 2013, L. Jacquet’s latest documentary Once Upon a Forest, exposes the vital importance of primary rainforests, their splendor, their abundance and their threatened existence. Today, multinationals are increasingly pressured to act against deforestation, a result of unsustainable palm oil extraction. Against this backdrop, the film becomes ever so relevant as it highlights the urgency of addressing bio-conservation differently. This sensory immersion awakens the collective environmental consciousness through respect and care, free from guilt-inducing campaigns.

Original fascination

In 2013, the Brazilian photographer S. Salgado introduced his itinerating exhibition Genesis as: “a quest for the world as it was, as it was formed, as it evolved, as it existed for millennia before modern life accelerated and began distancing us from the very essence of our being (...) a testimony that our planet still harbors vast and remote regions where nature reigns in silent and pristine majesty.

Bibliography: « Iceberg entre l’île Paulet et les
îles Shetland du sud dans la mer de Weddell ». Sebastião Salgado, 2005.
© Sebastião Salgado (photograph) - Courtesy of Peclers Paris, Extract from FW 15-16 Beauty trend book

This picture symbolizes the melting polar glaciers, as both symbols of our planet’s memories and an extreme Eldorado packed with hidden treasures.

Raw poetry

Incredible aesthetics come to life when rudimentary shapes and materials, or ambiguously attractive animals and vegetables are beautifully displayed. R. Imbriosi (Brazilian designer; Ibira-Flora installation in São Paulo’s Ibirapuera Park, 2013) converted his raw, hand-woven fabrics into a poetic forest. In 2014, P. Parreno’s video installation at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris) transformed the repulsiveness of a cuttlefish into light, fascinating poetry.

Visuels 4&5 Bibliographie : « Ibirá-Flora ». Roberto Imbroisi, 2013 © Roberto Imbroisi (installation)
« Anywhere, Anywhere, Out Of The
World ». Philippe Parenno, 2013. © Touristos (exhibition) Courtesy of Peclers Paris - Extract from FW 15-16 Beauty trend book