The way L’Oréal’s Silvia Galfo sees it, luxury and culture are inextricably linked — today, more than ever.
“There’s been a real shift in the meaning of luxury: aspiration is important, but people seek for real meaning,” said Galfo, president of L’Oréal’s Luxe USA division, at the WWD Los Angeles Beauty Forum.
L’Oréal Luxe includes beauty licenses for buzzy designer brands from Valentino to YSL to Prada, and now, with its just-finalized agreement to acquire Kering Beauté, heavyweight fragrance lines from Creed, Bottega Veneta and more.
“People are much more deliberate today on how they want to spend their money — at the end of the day, with prices hiking up so much, the question is, is it really worth it?,” Galfo said.
Taking all this into consideration, providing value for luxury shoppers has become a much more expansive task.
“Value you create through experiences, through emotional connections and community, is very important,” continued the executive. “You cannot please everyone all the time, so you have to be deliberate about who you want to go after.”
At L’Oréal, this mission has meant being tuned into what’s happening; reacting quickly, and, around once a year for each portfolio brand, hosting immersive events that bring their respective identities to life.
For instance, hosting Valentino’s viral Studio 54 revival — Cher cameo included — one night last fall, or the Lancôme Idôle House pop-up in New York celebrating the brand’s 90th anniversary.
“It has to make sense for the brand; Lancôme couldn’t have done a nightclub, for example. You have to make sure it’s authentic, otherwise it will feel like it’s trying too hard,” said Galfo, adding that the Studio 54 party took cues from Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele’s affinity for “newstalgia.”
“He’s all about taking whatever in the past made the brand strong or relevant, and translating it to the new generation…Mr. Valentino Garavani was part of that ’70s crowd of artists and designers, throwing parties with his friends. So [we thought], how do you connect the values of self-expression and radical inclusivity of the brand today, with what it was before.”
As for the strategic benefit of these events?
“It obviously has an impact on sales, but it’s not about sales. It’s about bringing the brand to the center of cultural conversations,” said Galfo, adding, for example, that with the Studio 54 party, “not everybody could be there, but people felt they could have been, through social channels even if not physically. People were buzzing about it for six months afterward.”
Aside from in-person activations, consistently activating online is key.
“We’re always ‘on,’ even if just on social continuing the conversation. You can’t just do one-off [experiences] — it feels too random,” she said, adding, “constantly being curious is the biggest thing, and there are so many avenues today to get insights. With AI and all these new tools, there are going to be even more interesting ways to get these signals.”
While L’Oréal has a roster of ultra-famous global ambassadors — Bella Hadid for Prada; Dua Lipa for YSL and so on — partnering with localized ambassadors has also been key to increasing resonance in certain regions.
“We have Tom Holland for Prada Paradigme, but we also want to be locally relevant, so we have Rauw Alejandro, a Puerto Rican singer, as a spokesperson as well,” said Galfo. “We signed for Viktor & Rolf Gavin Casalegno, who is the darling of ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty.’ It was the right moment in culture, for what this type of consumer wants, to bring them together.”
Next up, brands within the L’Oréal Luxe division will be activating at the Coachella music festival, while Lancôme has signed on as a skin care partner of the widely anticipated “The Devil Wears Prada 2” film releasing in May.
“[The partnership] coincides with a very big skin care launch coming a month from now,” teased Galfo.
“Beauty is very emotional. It’s not just a transaction — yes, you want to have better skin and look better overall — but there’s an emotional part beauty plays in a consumer’s mind, where self-expression is important. And that’s where you can create additional value for the consumer, versus just a good product.”
