The 10th annual international show organised by the Cosmetic Valley will be held at the Carrousel du Louvre, in Paris, on October 16-17. Under the theme of longevity and sustainability, the event will bring together 350 exhibitors (compared to 250 last year) and over 5,000 visitors from 70 countries. One of the highlights of this year’s event will be the first “Cosmétopiades”, an global challenge focused on cosmetic excellence. Premium Beauty News met Franckie Béchereau, the show’s director, to take stock of the past ten years and reveal the highlights of the upcoming show.
Premium Beauty News – Where does Cosmetic 360 stand, ten years after it was set up?
Franckie Béchereau – This show has carved out a place for itself on the national and global level despite a packed events calendar. The concept itself places it at the crossroads of all the others. We see it all through the prism of innovation and foresight, and the exhibitors consider it as a complement to the other shows they attend. The event has also breathed new life into the cosmetics industry, because we showcase companies that do not necessarily come from our industry, but from related sectors that provide innovation. I am thinking of players in the tech, agri-food, and energy transition sectors.
What’s more, from the very beginning, the show was meant to be a 360° event, bringing together all players and attracting interest from the biggest, in particular with Open Innovation, as well as the smallest, with the startup village. Ten years on, it is still the case: all kinds of profiles come to visit, as we now welcome a wide range of players from public research and training, including the ISIPCA school.
We have not strayed from the show’s DNA, quite the contrary: we have strengthened it.
Premium Beauty News – What about visitors?
Franckie Béchereau – The premise was to introduce exhibitors’ innovations and to have decision-makers as visitors. We have welcomed increasingly specialized visitors over the years, as the show grew more and more successful and understood, but above all, due to its high quality of content. The concept has not changed, it has strengthened.
Premium Beauty News – The first Cosmétopiades are designed to mark this 10th anniversary. What does this competition involve?
Franckie Béchereau – For Cosmetic 360’s 10th anniversary, we wanted an event that would be focused on innovation, strengthen our DNA, and be outward-looking. These are essential levers for the cosmetics industry. Given the fact that the Olympic Games took place in Paris, the idea of Cosmétopiades came naturally. It is more of a friendly competition to give everyone a chance to express themselves. Fourteen industry pavilions from countries on five continents, made up of research bodies, local authorities, clusters and others, will show the hidden face of innovation, focusing on four themes: public research, training, local support to the industry, and the culture and know-how companies bank on to develop.
The Medals of Excellence will then be awarded by an international jury made up of representatives from the various pavilions, on the basis of a number of criteria met, with no limit on the number of medals per category.
This will create great synergies for the participants coming from Australia, five Asian countries, three European cosmetics branches, South and North America, and for the two pavilions from Africa.
Premium Beauty News – This year’s theme is “Longevity and Sustainability”. Could you explain this choice?
Franckie Béchereau – It is a forward-looking subject that we feel is perfectly in tune with our times and concerns the entire value chain. It will be the theme of the programme of conferences, which will cover each segment. Also, it will be featured in the innovation brought forward by the CNRS, the French National Centre for Scientific Research, and highlighted and identified by the exhibitors competing for the Cosmetic 360 Awards Special Jury Prize.
Premium Beauty News – What are the other highlights of the show?
Franckie Béchereau – The Research area, which will be substantial this year, with more than a dozen players. If we add the Research representatives in the 14 pavilions, this profile corresponds to 10% of our exhibitors. It is rare to see so many public research players at a cosmetics show. But then, there can be no innovation without research. It is at the core of our industrial challenges.
Premium Beauty News – What are your objectives for the ten years to come?
Franckie Béchereau – We would like to develop our global influence even further. Our industry is too closely linked to exports not to be acquainted with its international partners.
The Cosmetic 360 Week concept also needs to change. It is a programme connected to the show which helps decision-makers explore forward-looking topics in greater depth through a series of visits. There are retail tours, laboratory visits, symposia… We have a rich programme, but we can raise our profile by being even more ambitious.
Also, we aim to put experience and human relationships at the heart of everything we do, to help people meet each other. All good innovation is first and foremost a human adventure.
Premium Beauty News – Can Cosmetic 360 be exported?
Franckie Béchereau – Why not? But always in connection with France. We are promoters of the French industry, so if this is to happen, it will be to serve it.
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