How Lancome Brings the Brand Alive at the Domaine de La Rose

In French, the word rose means both pink and rose, and at Lancôme’s Domaine de La Rose, both definitions are in full force.

The vibrant pink villa, located in the verdant hills of Grasse, France, is the “living soul” of the brand, said Françoise Lehmann, who conceived of the Domaine during her time as global brand president of Lancôme as a place where everyone from perfumers to consumers to creators and Lancôme’s own teams could visit to immerse themselves in its culture.

Lancôme acquired the site in 2019, when a fragrance supplier told Lehmann about a property for sale in the city, the historical heart of the perfumery business. The executive was visiting her father, who lived nearby, at the time, and the two jumped in a car to see the land. “It was November and pouring with rain, but the magic caught me immediately,” Lehmann recalled of that first visit. “As soon as my father saw it, he said, ‘this is an amazing property.’ What was exceptional was to find it, because the region is already very developed and it’s not easy to find land.”

Formerly a farm where locals would often come to purchase fruits and vegetables, the Domain comprises about 10 acres, a significant size for Grasse today, where roughly 110 fragrance companies have a presence. Its location is particularly well suited for growing fragrance flowers. “The location — between the sea and the mountains — means there is always a moving breeze,” said Lehmann. “The soil is rich in clay, so it’s like a sponge for rain and sun. These four elements have created unique environment.”

What also made this particular location unusual was that the previous owners had been farming the land organically since the 1960s, an anomaly in a region that became increasingly industrialized in the latter half of the 20^th century. “The Domain had an inventory of 120 birds and insects — it was and is a shelter of biodiversity,” said Lehmann, noting that on the recommendation of the previous owner, Lancôme hired landscape engineer Antoine Leclef to be head of cultivation.

Today, the property has 10,000 rose plants, primarily the varietals damascene and centifolia. It takes about 800 kilograms of roses to produce one kilogram of absolue for fragrances. A typical bush contains about 300 roses and produces about one kilo, said Leclef, who is a 15^th century Grassois. Most of the bushes on the property are about 10 to 11 years old; 15 to 25 is the maximum lifespan for a plant.

There are also 800 square meters of jasmine, which blossom in July and are harvested in the early morning hours. While it takes two years for the plants to have a yield suitable for fragrance usage, the flowers still have to be picked, said Leclef, noting Lancôme partners with a local company to make jam with the flowers that aren’t suitable for its uses.

Also cultivated here are tuberose, lavender, iris, verbena and various herbal plants. There are over 250 olive trees (special visitors often leave with the gift of Lancôme olive oil) and all of the plants are native or historical to the region. The Domain has an elevation of 50 meters and there can be as much as a 10-degree Celsius difference in temperature between the upper and lower regions, according to Leclef. “There can be frosts on the roses in one part of the domain,” he said, “and not on the other.”

Roses are harvested in May, verbena in June, lavender and jasmine in July and immortelles in August. September brings the harvest of iris, and tuberose takes place in October and November. At the height of the season, there can be as many as 25 pickers helping to harvest the plants. Fragrance flowers have been grown on the property since the 15^th century.

In the winter, sheep come to graze for two to three months. “They help us clean the property,” said Leclef, “because unlike goats, they only eat the leaves and grass, but not the branches where the roses bloom.”

 “It’s a festival of smells from May to November,” said Lehmann, who said the scent is so intense in May some visitors ask if Lancôme is spraying scent. “It quickly became clear that this would be our living sense of place, where we not only grow the flowers in our fragrances in the way we want — organically and sustainably — but also as the place where Lancôme people belong, our soul.”

While the way the land has been cultivated has remained relatively unchanged for centuries, the building itself was updated to reflect the savoir faire of the brand. To select who would design the property, Lehman held a competition. “Many wanted to build a big house, but I wanted a house that is a tribute to plants and not the reverse,” she said. “The winners said let’s do a color statement — they transformed it into something that was welcoming. What they have created is a perfect mixture of modernity and the flair of Provence. They found a good blend between something original — not copycatting anything in the region and created something special and unique to invent our own story.”

Cyril Chapuy, the global president of L’Oréal Luxe, described the domain’s architecture as well-crafted, extremely modern and contemporary, while respectful of the environment of Grasse and its environs, where many plant species grow. “It embodies culture, but it also embodies sustainability,” said Chapuy.

From the moment one enters through the gates, you are struck by the color. Everywhere is pink — the roof tiles, the walls, the ceiling, the stairs, even the kitchen appliances and the toilet in the powder room. As to how they chose the precise shade of pink — “It was several sleepless nights,” laughed Lehmann. “ I came three or four times to see different renditions — in the day, at night, from the north, the south.”

There is no art on the walls — “nature plays the role of art,” said Lehmann, gesturing toward a huge picture window framing stunning views to the north. The entrance forms a big O in homage to the brand, with the two buildings positioned in a way that forms the circumflex over it. Inside is a wall carved with a giant rose and a golden fragrance organ that today has the Absolue line of fragrances reflecting the offerings of the domain. Each of the 12 scents has rose at the center of its composition and is housed in a flacon whose design elements are based on the building itself.

The future is also very much in play here. Just below the fragrance organ is the distillery, where visitors can learn more about the plants and various methods of production. Here, there is information about traditional methods, but also a glimpse into how emerging technologies are impacting fragrance development. In one corner sits a small stainless steel distillery. Developed by Cosmo in Mougin, the machine, a L’Oréal exclusive, has stainless steel shelves with holes, which can capture the scent molecules at a particular moment in time, then fixed in a bioengineered solvent and used directly as raw material. “This helps keep the freshness and the blooms can be reextracted because they are not combined with water or a solvent,” said Lehmann, who said the machine uses only 17 kilowatts of power during a 24-hour extraction process and only 40 kilos of roses are needed to get one kilo of raw material. “It gives the scent of the rose on the bush,” she said, noting that because it has wheels it can even be rolled into the fields to capture a scent at a particular moment in time. “It’s the freshest expression of the rose.”

While it is, of course, impossible to recreate the agricultural activities of the Domaine de La Rose in another locale, Lancôme has tapped into its storytelling powers for marketing activities around the world. The second floor of the brand’s boutique in Hainan, China, for example, recreates the educational and olfactive experience, complete with a circular entrance, fragrance organ and even a distillery. There was a pop-up for an Ulta Beauty store manager’s conference in the U.S., a travel retail store in Doha and a Café de La Rose in Lancôme’s flagship on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

“The Domain has had a very strong impact. It helps people understand the brand and we bring many retailers here, influencers, our ambassadors, editors, tourists and locals,” said Lehmann, noting over 15,000 people have toured it since its opening. “They are looking for what makes Lancôme special compared to other luxury brands. The Domaine de La Rose unifies everyone under a common dream and they learn something.

“Our wish was to create a place where we belong,” she continued.  “It’s so successful with the public because it’s truly unique.”