Luxury beauty and fragrance house Guerlain has partnered with The Shilla Duty Free Singapore and Changi Airport Group to launch the exclusive Parfumerie d’Art Changi first pop-up.
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The activation celebrates the Art of Happiness, featuring an artistic collaboration with Maison Matisse.
The pop-up runs from 4 April to 14 May in Terminal 3 Departure Transit, highlighting LVMH-owned Guerlain’s L’Art & La Matière Collection, Jasmin Bonheur, Muguet Millésime 2023 and Cherry Blossom Millésime 2023 Exceptional Pieces fragrance creations as well as the brand’s Orchidée Impériale Black premium skincare line.
Changi Airport is the first and only airport in Asia Pacific travel retail to host the Pop-Up during its run. It offers a range of bespoke services including one-on-one fragrance consultations by Guerlain’s Beauty Consultants, personalisation and engraving services.
“The Shilla Duty Free Singapore seeks to introduce luxurious, captivating activations to engage our travellers,” commented The Shilla Duty Free Singapore Vice President, Managing Director Jeff Lee. “We are proud and excited to collaborate with Guerlain — a legendary French perfumes and cosmetics house — to create a striking, eventful outpost to showcase their exquisite Parfumerie d’Art creations in Changi Airport.”
Guerlain Regional Director Asia Pacific Emma Behaeghel added: “It is our honour to collaborate with Changi Airport Group and The Shilla Duty Free on this inaugural Parfumerie d’Art Changi 1st pop-up. It encompasses the essence of Guerlain’s DNA where fragrance is an art form.”
“They will also be spoilt for choice when choosing gifts for their loved ones as Guerlain’s bespoke offerings include fragrance consultation, bottle customisation and engraving services. We look forward to more collaborations with Guerlain and The Shilla Duty Free Singapore.”
Here, Guerlain regional director for Asia Pacific, Emma Behaeghel, discusses the brand’s overall vision for travel retail.
Tell us about the Parfumerie d’Art Pop-Up at Changi and how it showcases Guerlain’s heritage.
Behaeghel: Guerlain has a long history of collaborating with artists to create limited edition collections and distinctive product designs. These collaborations allow Guerlain to imbue our products with a sense of creativity and artistry. A few of our memorable collaborations are with Maison Matisse, Yves Klein, Chinese Artist Li Hongbo to name a few. For over 12 years Guerlain has also been a partner of the FIAC – International Contemporary Art Fair.
In this sense, the Parfumerie d’Art Pop-Up at Changi Airport Terminal 3 perfectly showcases the rich heritage and savoir faire of Guerlain in Parfumerie d’Art as well as the Maison’s love for art.
Tell us more about your collaboration with Maison Matisse – do you see more art collaborations such as this playing a bigger role in your product and marketing strategy in the future?
We will continue to work on inspirational collaborations with top ateliers and artisans because art has and always will be a huge part of Guerlain’s heritage. By launching strategic pop-ups at key locations and markets, we hope to offer travellers memorable brand experiences as they discover the brand, fall in love with the brand and stay true to the brand for years to come. Sales will be a natural by-product of these efforts.
What is your overall vision for Guerlain in travel retail?
We see travel retail as the most fantastic window and showcase for our Maison. Airports have become the new luxury mecca. It is our goal to have the most exclusive, premium expression of Guerlain across key airports in Asia Pacific. It is also an opportunity to engage with quality customers for our maison and increase brand awareness globally.
With the changing consumer behaviours of younger generation, especially Gen Z, who are more educated and informed in their choices and experience driven in their consumer journey, Guerlain will continue to strive to be a pioneer in providing dynamic omnichannel experiences that are true to Guerlain’s rich heritage and DNA.
Guerlain is a triple-axis brand offering fragrance, skincare and makeup. What role does a multi-category beauty brand such as Guerlain play in driving wider category recovery, particularly in Asia Pacific travel retail?
Guerlain has authentically been present with the three categories from the beginning of the maison. We created the first lipstick ‘Ne m’oubliez pas’ and Sissi The Empress of Austria was already wearing Guerlain skincare ‘Crème a la Fraise’ way back in 18th century. We also started our first spa in 1936.
For over 190 years, Guerlain has been offering Haute Parfumerie & Haute Cosmetique to our clients. We’ve seen that trends come and go, but being present on three axis makes us more even more resilient regardless of the context. It is also help us build an average basket way above competition.
Which categories performed during the pandemic and which are showing a robust performance this year?
Skincare was the most buoyant or resilient amid the crisis as everyone recognises the importance of self-care during challenging times. We also see a huge rising trend in high-end fragrances. This can be attributed to consumers who are more educated about fragrances and strive to find fragrances and brands that can offer them curated fragrance experiences and highlight their individuality. The removal of the mask mandates has also caused a revival in our lips category.
Tell us about your partnership with Changi Airport and The Shilla Duty Free in Singapore.
Changi Airport is one of the most amazing airports in the world and is part of our Southeast Asia strategy on both local market & travel retail. Through this partnership, Guerlain has been able to offer an amazing pop-up on L’Art & La Matière, to a wider audience of international travellers, while also leveraging the expertise of Changi Airport and The Shilla Duty Free Singapore in the duty-free retail space. The partnership has been mutually beneficial for all parties involved, helping drive sales, customer experience and increase brand awareness in the Asia-Pacific region.
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What does a good partnership look like to you in travel retail? What more can retailers do to enhance the appeal of your beauty category and brand to travellers?
We are at a turning point. While we want to keep and maintain convenience for travellers to shop in a multibrand environment; we also want to offer a qualitative experience and a more complete brand assortment. To achieve this, space is always a challenge. The retail of beauty is an important topic and we are exploring boutique openings in the most emblematic airports of the region.
(Source: The Moodie Davitt Report )