Pininfarina reimagines Lancôme beauty into timeless art
With its cross-industry design expertise, the studio elevates French luxury, creating Les Exceptionnels, a limited-edition collection of iconic beauty products as timeless Objets d’Art in crystal, ceramic, and gold.
Pininfarina celebrates its 95th anniversary by bringing its refined design expertise to Lancôme, the French brand synonymous with beauty, for a historic and meticulously crafted limited-edition collection, Les Exceptionnels. This series honors Lancôme’s 90-year heritage and artistic legacy, thoughtfully redesigning three of its most beloved creations to celebrate the dialogue between art, craftsmanship, and contemporary design, transforming them into true Objets d’Art.
The collection includes Absolue Longevity The Soft Cream, the Absolu Rouge lipstick and, finally, La Vie Est Belle Eau de Parfum. The collaboration’s intent is to preserve the iconic spirit of the original pieces while reimagining materials, artisanal techniques and sensory interaction, enhancing not only their quality but also the emotional experience they offer. All objects were conceived with timelessness, tactile pleasure and reusability in mind, reflecting a shared vision of enduring beauty and design excellence.
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Pininfarina contributed to Les Exceptionnels as an enabler, bringing value and know-how to a sector far from its usual standards, both in terms of aesthetic language and functional requirements. The collaboration was driven by the studio’s ability to fully understand the client’s needs – even when operating in a different sector – and translate them into a tangible vision, thanks to a flexible process and its meticulous attention to crafting design codes that resonate with the brand’s values.
In this case, together with Lancôme, they developed the concept that guided the initial material selections and the choice of potential production partners. The studio then helped adapt the designs to authentic artisanal techniques, such as redesigning certain details to allow for crystal blowing rather than glass. A pursuit of balance between form and production in which Pininfarina has extensive expertise.
The entire line is built around three main materials, gold, ceramic and crystal, masterfully crafted by three renowned French maisons: Lalique, sculptor of light, Bernardaud, porcelain of royals and Ateliers Godard, the gilders of the Palace of Versailles. While the standard versions of these products are made of glass, the new limited series reimagines the body in crystal, with a gold-plated metal base, hand-applied gold leaf and a ceramic component crafted and finished manually.
The work on materials was conceived to maximize visual and tactile contrasts: gleaming gold set against satin ceramic, precious crystal replacing glass, and glossy metal playing with matte finishes depending on the patterns. A level of craftsmanship of the highest quality that elevates the pieces to works of art, produced in limited quantities, between 500 and 1000 pieces.
Looking at the individual products, the crystal bottle of La Vie Est Belle Eau de Parfum rests on a pristine white ceramic base decorated with Lancôme’s iconic Agora Rose motif in shining gold. When lifted, the curved base allows the bottle to “dance” on any surface, playfully embodying the joy that the fragrance represents. The distinctive crystal smile of the bottle is reinterpreted as a curve, while the pleated gold ribbon wings become a symbol of elegance that suggests movement.
Absolue Longevity The Soft Cream pays homage to the first version of the cream (1965), which featured a ceramic jar. For Les Exceptionnels, both the inner refillable container and the outer layer are handmade in ceramic, with the outer layer finished in brushed gold. The lid is imagined as a golden gua sha – a term referring to an ancient practice using a stone rubbed on the face, traditionally believed to improve blood and lymph circulation. The element can be used to enhance the sensory experience during application and is engraved, once again, with the Agora Rose motif.
The curves, cuts and proportions of the previous two pieces also return in the Absolu Rouge lipstick. Clad in Versailles gold, it is sculpted by hand in an elegant, sculptural form with smooth lines and the Rose motif placed on the top of the case. The tactile “click” of the ceramic button opens the case, while the lipstick bullet is also engraved with the Rose motif, underscoring once more Lancôme’s 90 years of exploration and research.
All three collectors ’ items were crafted using the same suppliers, except for the crystal work of the fragrance bottle, which remains exclusive. Impressed by the result, Lancôme entrusted Pininfarina not only with the primary packaging (bottle, cream jar, lipstick) but also with the box/packaging that contains them – the secondary packaging. As products of high craftsmanship intended for collectors, even the container becomes part of the experience: it opens to reveal the product like a jewel, embracing rounded forms and premium materials from the world of fine paper.
Les Exceptionnels celebrates Pininfarina’s transversal design vision alongside Lancôme’s evolving legacy: not simply a collaboration to create true collector’s pieces, but an exchange of expertise capable of translating brand, target and values into coherent objects. Objets d’Art with aesthetic codes and an audience different from the automotive world, demonstrating the studio’s ability to operate across the full spectrum of design.
