KLOR ANE. Beautiful by Nature

Transcription

1 KLOR ANE 5 0 Y E A R S Beautiful by Nature

2 Archives KLORANE Brand Editor Christophe TERRAL Photo credits A. Spani KLORANE Institute Other photos: copyright, rights reserved Printed on Natural Evolution

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5 I HAVE ALWAYS PREFERRED TO FARM THE FIELD OF MY LIFE BY TRACING A FURROW WHILE KEEPING MY EYES ON THE HORIZON BUT 5

6 ALTHOUGH THIS IS A USEFUL PROCEDURE, SOMETIMES YOU 6 ALSO NEED TO HAVE THE COURAGE TO BREAK AWAY AND TAKE A NEW ROAD THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TO OVERTAKE THE OTHERS, EVEN IF THIS NEW ROAD IS MORE ARDUOUS. Pierre Fabre ( ) 6

7 o s First steps to beauty 1960>1970 7

8 8 The first pharmacy, Castres.

9 60 FIRST STEPS TO BEAUTY KLORANE rose up like a phoenix in the midst of the bubbling effervescence of a legendary decade. The determination to enjoy life to the fullest resulted in a wave of reckless abandonment that swept through our world, sowing the seeds of rebellion against the accepted order. From mini skirts to the Beatles, from Pop Art to the first steps taken on the moon, from Brigitte Bardot to the Berlin Wall: the old world gave way to a new one. Far removed from the euphoria and turbulence of that era, in the town of Castres in the region of Tarn where he was born, a young chemist worked away in his laboratory, carried along on the breeze of this prodigious vitality, but even more by the success of Cyclo 3, a medicine dubbed a godsend for the veins, based on extracts of Ruscus aculeatus or butcher s broom. The power of plants was already making its mark. From his years of study, Pierre Fabre developed a lively interest in galenic pharmacy to match his enthusiasm for biological chemistry, a fusion of chemistry and botany. A visionary, he always strived to create original products with their roots in the plant world. Innovation became his credo and the cornerstone for his newly formed company, while Nature was his leading supplier. 9

10 1965 It was in 1965 in the great market square at the heart of Castres, where Pierre Fabre settled in 1951, that he was offered an opportunity that would revolutionize the hygiene and budding cosmetology sector, whose amazing potential he had already recognized. So he took the lead and purchased KLORANE, a modest little laboratory in Puteaux on the outskirts of Paris. This was the founding act. The era of dermo-cosmetics had begun. THE ERA OF DERMO- COSMETICS HAD BEGUN. With his first employees, he began overhauling the brand portfolio in his unrelenting quest for innovation. A range of KLORANE soaps was introduced, rapidly climbing to thirty-two skus, with another twelve added in Among these, the ephemeral No. 5 (no connection to the House of Chanel) was phased out the following year. All of the KLORANE products now bore the label permanent pharmaceutical testing, reflecting the new and rigorous standards demanded by the young pharmacist. Safety and innocuousness were his slogan. But it was the KLORANE shampoos that soon colonised French bathrooms, quickly gaining essential status in hair care. 10

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12 1966 The fashion pages and gossip columns of the women s weekly Jours de France made space for a new advertiser: the Pierre Fabre Laboratories. The leading KLORANE advertisement was perused in the waiting rooms of doctors and dentists who benefited from a free subscription to the magazine throughout the country, with the company s new anti-lacquer shampoo having key placement within the magazine. This rapidly became a must have product, alongside KLORANE s other top contender, its Chamomile shampoo for blonde hair. The advertisements multiplied, published in mass-circulation magazines such as ELLE, Marie-Claire and Mademoiselle Age Tendre, until the newcomer attained the rank of a national heritage brand. Since then, its success has grown exponentially thanks to its Nasturtium, White Nettle, Quinine and Mink Oil treatment shampoos and the color radiance range based on organic henna, walnut and centaury The packaging also revealed a not-soinsignificant dose of talent and genius. The glass bottle, topped by a Bakelite cap aimed to reassure sobriety, a pledge of the brand s integrity, while the images on the outer box purveyed subtle seduction.women were captivated and impressed. It was the flower-power era, a time when blonde was beautiful. Right on cue, KLORANE s pretty potions were bursting with flowers and blonde enhancement treatments.. IN 1969, KLORANE CELEBRATED THE SALE OF ITS MILLIONTH BOTTLE OF CHAMOMILE SHAMPOO. 12

13 FIRST STEPS TO BEAUTY Below: KLORANE filled French bathrooms with their shampoos. 1967, launch of the KLORANE baby product range. 13

14 1967 It was the year when General de Gaulle set Canada ablaze with his famous Vive le Québec libre! (Long Live Free Quebec). The French director and screenwriter Jacques Demy was acclaimed for his The Young Girls of Rochefort. In Cuba, Ernesto Guevara, better known under the name Che Guevara, died at age 39: the passing of a legend and the birth of an icon. In that same year, Pierre Fabre released a new KLORANE range of baby bath and skin care products: an ultra-gentle soap with rounded contours and a talcum powder. The range soon became iconic, based on Calendula officinalis (marigold), reputed for its toning, softening and purifying properties. The plant was cultivated on an experimental agrotechnical farm belonging to the Pierre Fabre Laboratories, where the extract s efficacy was discovered by the Peraudel teams. Mainly, it marked the inauguration of KLORANE s founding principle: each product must be based on one plant and on a unique plant extract. The brand never wavered from this concept and the recipie for its success was born. In the same year, another cult product was evolving in the mind of the enlightened chemist, a product linked to an essential practice for a great number of women: make-up removal. Yet again, its inspiration came from nature: Centaurea cyanus L., a plant belonging to the Asteraceae family and registered in the pharmacopoeia as a cornflower. Its soothing and decongesting properties have been recognized since the Middle Ages. A symbol of clear sight and quaintly dubbed spectacle-breaker. The launch of the cornflower into the realm of cosmetics did not go unnoticed, and deservedly so. By this time, the little dark blue KLORANE Laboratories bottles had become an essential make-up remover for the most sensitive eyes. Today, the Blue Boy variety, from which the extract is made, is organically grown on the Pierre Fabre Group s own land, at Bagnères de Bigorre in the Pyrenees. By the end of the sixties, in less than a decade, KLORANE had climbed to the summit, becoming the favorite household brand of French families. Inspiring and inspired, the brand cultivated a climate of trust and understanding with its customers through a range of superbly natural products, perfectly in keeping with the times. Women raved about it, never seeming to tire of its attraction. FIRST STEPS TO BEAUTY AT THE END OF THE SIXTIES, IN LESS THAN 7 A DECADE, KLORANE HAD CLIMBED TO THE TOP. BECOMING THE FAVOURITE HOUSEHOLD BRAND OF FRENCH FAMILIES. 14

15 o s Seeking the perfect gesture 1970>

16 70 SEEKING THE PERFECT GESTURE The Crazy Seventies. The events of May 1968 left their mark, overturning the traditional values of postwar French society. A light wind of change could be felt in the air. Women continued to work toward emancipation and, in their wake, bodies and spirits were made free. Television invaded every home, while kitchen appliances and mass consumer brands filled the shelves of the new temples to consumerism: supermarkets. This enchanted interlude that, in spite of the economic turbulence created from by the first oil crisis in 1973 and its waste not, want not measures, foreshadowed prosperous times for KLORANE. 16

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19 KLORANE packaging line in

20 1972 The first among them is reminiscent of the song Lundi au soleil [Monday in the Sun], the song of the year, sung by Claude François which sold 500,000 copies. That year, KLORANE shampoos soared to the top of the charts in pharmacy sales with a whopping 35% market share. Although the KLORANE star was shining brightly on the French side of the Pyrenees, confirming the Stone and Charden duo s claim that Il y a du soleil sur la France [The sun is shining on France], the Spanish side of the Pyrenees was not forgotten. The Pierre Fabre Group set up shop in Catalonia, with the blessing of the Real Academia de Farmacia affirming that The Pyrenees are no longer a barrier. The products offered by Klorane Barcelona are best sellers in the Spanish community pharmacies. The land of the Dolce Vita, where KLORANE was widely acclaimed for the first time in that same year, played a similar tune. The brand had already crossed the Alps in 1969, where it conquered the ultra-serious Swiss, before crossing the Ardennes to work its magic in the kingdom of Belgium. In 1976, one hundred and one years after the British national, Matthew Webb, made his record swim across the Channel, KLORANE disembarked in the land of Her Royal Majesty before finally reaching the banks of the Tagus in Portugal in Thus, before the end of the decade, sustained by a communication strategy both sober and informative in tone, without ever making any concessions to aesthetics, the brand converted most of the women in Europe to its gentleness, its new advertising signature. And these women returned the favor in spades. But it was a resolutely new gesture in cosmetics that established KLORANE s reputation once and for all, a gesture associated with a product so simple to use that it immediately became a favorite with female consumers. In just five minutes and without even wetting your hair!, promised the advertisement created by the Parisian agency, Impact, KLORANE s dry shampoo with white nettle restores radiance and lightness to hair that gets greasy too quickly. KLORANE s dry shampoo exploded onto the hair care market.with its new galenic formulation, ease of application and easy residue and oil removal with just a few brushstrokes, this fabulous aerosol shot over the million-unit bar in its 1977 sales. Nothing could stop the amazing rise of this star product, which was previously a coveted essential used only by studio hair stylists. The ultimate accolade: in 2008, in an interview for the magazine L Express, the great fashion guru Karl Lagerfeld admitted that he powders his hair every day with whole canisters of Klorane dry shampoo conceding that he looked like a walking meringue. A humorous trait exploited some years later, in 2015, by the illustrator for ELLE, Soledad, in one of her weekly illustrated articles: Are you a bit like Karl?. KLORANE dry shampoo passed into posterity. THAT YEAR, KLORANE SHAMPOOS SOARED TO THE TOP OF THE CHARTS IN PHARMACY SALES WITH A WHOPPING 35% MARKET SHARE 20

21 SEEKING THE PERFECT GESTURE A third, unfortunately painful, event contributed to reinforcing the brand s credibility and the legitimacy of its sales pitch. In August 1972, the Morhange talcum powder affair attributed the untimely death of several babies from poisoning, following an error in handling and dosage, inciting the public authorities to regulate the cosmetic industry. In July 1975, Simone Veil, the French Health Minister at the time, presented a bill that passed into a law bearing her name, declaring the new regulatory guidelines. In 1976, Europe reiterated the French text almost word for word in a Directive applicable to all Member States. However, KLORANE did not wait for the legislature s decree before offering a full set of safety guarantees to its consumers. Very early on, with the first branded soaps, Pierre Fabre understood the importance of highlighting the fact that his laboratories belonged to the pharmaceutical industry. Even the packaging echoed this: the immaculate box protecting the precious bottles is reminiscent of the pharmacist s white coat. The sales pitch, too, became more technical, even in the brand advertisements for its products designed, manufactured and tested by pharmaceutical laboratories with the same priciples asmedical drugs. From naturally rigorous, the KLORANE beauty line becomes rigorously natural. Patents were filed one after another, guaranteeing not only the plant origin of the shampoos but also the pharmaceutical extraction of the active ingredients, an act of corporate governance ahead of its time. This avant-garde concept led to an original and unique approach in the sector: the plant process, ancestor of Phytofilière. It guarantees careful cultivation, abundant raw materials, high in active ingredients : optimum conditions for the design and production of irreproachable phytopharmaceutical products. At a time when journalists were focusing their cameras and projectors on the farm workers and their thousands of sympathisers protesting against the extension of an army camp on the rugged limestone plateau known as the Causse de Larzac, the Pierre Fabre Laboratories and KLORANE were quietly engaged in their own revolution in the shadow of another mountain, the Montagne Noire [Black Mountain]. It was at the foot of this mountain, at Cambounetsur-Sor in the Tarn region, not far from the town of Castres, that the Agrotechnical department of the plant division established its premises. Its modesty is in inverse proportion to the ambition of the team running the department. When the so-called Carnation Revolution broke out against the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal in 1974, the Calendula, Cornflower, Chamomile and Ruscus planted by the division had already begun theirs in favor of the best of plants and of all those women already addicted to their healing properties. The launch of the dry shampoo firmly established KLORANE S fame and reputation. 21

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23 SEEKING THE PERFECT GESTURE Press advertisement Chamomile shampoo in

24 1979 SO KLORANE PATIENTLY AND INEXORABLY SOWS AND REAPS. AND EACH YEAR ITS DEVOTEES INCREASE. 8 It was only natural to give them a special place on the KLORANE packaging. In the same year that saw the first woman rise to the head of the government in Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher, with her hair style judged by the British as the fifth most marked in history, the botanical illustrations made their appearance, together with the colored ranges, on the boxes containing the brand s shampoos. By the turn of the seventies, resolutely clinging to its founding principle, KLORANE continued its unbridled ascent, confirming its position of leader in the pharmaceutical sector with a 27% market share. Yet again, the future bore out the vision of its creator, Pierre Fabre, impassioned defender of biodiversity before his time. In spite of the terrible ecological disasters of the decade (Seveso releasing its cloud of dioxin over the Lombardy plains in 1976, the Amoco Cadiz shipwreck off the Brittany coast in 1978 and the nuclear power station disaster at Three Mile Island in the United States in 1979), environmental protection and corporate governance were still not high on the list of priorities for a number of countries in Europe and worldwide. However, at the edge of the Midi-Pyrénées, in the heart of a tenaciously rural France, one brand was earnestly cultivating the basic common sense inherited from the earth itself and the cycles of nature. 24

25 o s Precision of the gesture 1980>

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27 80 PRECISION OF THE GESTURE With the seventies barely over, the all-powerful modernity of the eighties was already clamoring to be heard. This was the Generation that gave birth to a cohort of others, as legendary as they were spontaneous: the Mitterand Generation, the Disco Generation, the Advertising Generation, the AIDS Generation, etc. Wherever you looked in whatever sector, the field of possibility suddenly appeared limitless. It was as if, finally released from the post-war shackles of privation and unremitting labor then becoming emancipated from the dawn of the seventies, France and the French were now eager for sparkling sequins and speed, bulimic consumerism, music, fashion, images and gadgets. They yearned for the ephemeral. Everyone just wanted to have fun and to be seen having it. Life was riddled with excess desire and appetite, sometimes to the point of outrage. This too much whirlwind nevertheless carried the seeds of a no-holds-barred creativity that presented a plethora of radical looks and hairstyles. Nothing was too daring to try, with varying success and varying levels of good taste. This unrestrained energy was also channelled into a cohort of products that became cult or iconic, themselves adjectives of the eighties. France became hooked on the Rubik s cube, obsessed over the Kiki soft toy, discovered the first video clips of Madonna and Michael Jackson; the first touchpad phones invaded homes, Tang powdered drinks invaded kitchens while, on the other side of the pond, Steve Jobs, a young IT prodigy, successfully unveiled the Macintosh, the first personal computer to use a mouse and a graphic interface. 27

28 1980 In 1980, KLORANE introduced a new generation of frequent use shampoos. A MINI REVOLUTION BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE LATEST FIND OF THE PIERRE FABRE GALENIC RESEARCHERS: A PLANT MILK WITH LACTESCENT EMULSION. It was in this joyous creative passion that KLORANE, twenty years after launching its first hair care best sellers, inaugurated a new generation of frequent use shampoos. A mini revolution brought about by the latest find of the Pierre Fabre galenic researchers: a plant milk with lactescent emulsion that changed the hair care habits of a multitude of families. Oat Milk shampoo became all the rage. Goodbye to detergent-based shampoos considered to be too aggressive and Hello to creaminess and gentleness. Consumers were quick in adopting it. The French women s magazine Avantages even elected it best product of the year in its category. In fact, the formula for this innovative hair care product was much more than just a simple laboratory discovery: it marked the birth of a new brand strategy, landing with both feet in the era of advertising and marketing. Yet again, KLORANE was right there, in the thick of the hottest trends of its time, totally attuned to the expectations of a market that was eager to respond. 28

29 PRECISION OF THE GESTURE 1982, shampoos with quinine, Chamomile shampoo and conditioner. At the beginning of the 1980s, after having been snubbed for years by the post-war free school milk generation of Mendès, milk once again became popular and starred in television commercials. Milk-based products, new friends for life, once again became fashionable thanks to a largescale institutional campaign whose refrain still lingers in the memory of many baby boomers. A symbol of youth and dynamism, these products once again became associated with healthy living habits. So it was not a bad idea to concentrate its appearance, texture and promise of health in a hair care product. Endorsing the genius of this inspired concept, the top Parisian advertising agencies courted KLORANE persistently. RSCG, cofounded by Jacques Séguéla, the man of quiet strength, the emblematic slogan of the presidential elections of 1981, took over from Impact and designed the first television commercial for the brand. Harmony and BDDP succeeded it, still never veering from the company s message and territory of expression, which was by then well established. In fact, the rigor of the marketing discourse cultivated by KLORANE since its beginnings had established its legitimacy. Even more: it won the trust of pharmacists distributing the brand and also the trust of customers. Far from being artificial, it reflected the scientific rigour of the laboratories, in this permanent search for the perfect innovation: in this same year, a product safety test was performed on each batch. The process was exclusive to KLORANE. But rigor does not necessarily mean austerity. With its specific typography, colored ranges, plant illustrations and product visuals, and also the women s portraits breathing naturalness and light, the KLORANE style is unique and wellrecognised. The KLORANE woman, light years from the Superwoman stereotypes in vogue in the advertising iconography of the time, was much closer to, for example, the hymn that Michel Sardou [a famous French singer and songwriter] produced in June 1981 under the title Etre une femme [to be a woman]. Beautiful by nature, the KLORANE woman projects her beauty naturally. Opposite: 1984, KLORANE baby product packs. 29

30 1985 PRECISION OF THE GESTURE KLORANE had reached a position rapidly coveted by the mass consumer brands that started to launch their own plant-based shampoos onto the market. This was further proof, if ever it were needed, of the visionary nature of the brand. Ahead of its time? Sometimes to excess. Veering for the first time from its sacred principle of one product, one plant, KLORANE strove to distinguish itself from this competitive counter-attack, producing even more technical products, such as its Concentré Polyvégétal, a fabulous cocktail of plants and essential oils for indepth hair care. The magazine L Officiel de la Mode, No. 722 of 1986, summarized the benefits of this true hair care ritual, in advance of its time, in the following way: To guard against all scalp imbalances and reinforce the hair s natural defences (but also to beautify the hair effortlessly): a transparent yellowyorange liquid to be used once or twice a week, by gently massaging it into the scalp before shampooing. An accolade from the press was not enough to persuade disoriented consumers. Still too innovative, the range was repositioned in 1991 before disappearing in But this was just a detail. KLORANE discovers, KLORANE explores, KLORANE innovates and KLORANE consolidates its position as hair care leader. In that same year, the second film of a young, almost unknown director, Luc Besson, took French cinema-goers by storm. Subway and its original cult soundtrack by Eric Serra plunged France into the underground of the Parisian metro at a hellish rhythm. It obtained 13 nominations at the 11th César award ceremony the following year and won three prizes including Best Actor for Christophe Lambert. This was also the year that KLORANE chose to dress its shampoo bottles with a new transparent material. Glass was out. Modernity was in, with PVC (polyvinyl 9 chloride) guaranteeing the perfect integrity of each formula: the perfect way to protect the plant in its container No doubt, on the verge of the 1990s, with the frenetic eighties, where the instant was king, drawing to a close, the constancy of KLORANE shampoos contributed to the decision made by the magazine VSD to rank the brand, in its No. 614 of 8 June 1989, among the most representative of French creative genius, alongside the Citroën 2 CV, the LaJaunie cachous, the Perrier sparkling water bottle and the Minitel. A culmination of over 20 years of excellence at the service of the most perfect beauty gestures was consecrated! 30

31 o s The right gesture 1990>

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33 90 THE RIGHT GESTURE The decade of the whirlwind 1980s was over. Sandwiched between the money years and the year 2000, the 1990s marked the end of everything and the beginning of something, according to the great subtitle of the collective work directed by François Cusset, intellectual historian, The Decade. A time of permanent transition, illustrating the worldwide propagation of the ideological victory of neoliberalism, incarnated by the conquering figures of Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom, financial globalization and the extension of the scope of globalization. A new era was beginning, precursor to a standardized worldwide mass culture. But it was a major geopolitical event that rocked history and marked the definite passage from the old decade to the new, from the old planetary order to the new. When, in July 1989, strolling through the streets of La Rochelle, Patrick Bruel [famous French singer-songwriter] wrote the lyrics for Casser la voix [break the voice], the hit that sent the singer to the top of the charts a few months later, did he know that about 932 miles away, on the opposite bank of the Rhine, Germany was preparing to tear down one of the most significant landmarks of a Europe divided by the iron curtain? On the night between the 9th and 10th of November 1989, before the incredulous admiration of the free world, the East Germans triggered the fall of the Berlin Wall, paving the way towards German Reunification. Already tottering, the Soviet bloc collapsed. A new world invented itself. On November 11th,, the famous cellist Mstislav Rostropovitch, exiled to the West following his opposition of the USSR, offered the whole world an improvised recital, alone on his chair in front of a block of collapsed wall: a truly unique moment, redolent of symbolism. Filmed live, the image toured the world, paying homage to the musician and also to a new generation now released from its old post-war fears. 33

34 1992 Press advertisement, November But KLORANE did not wait for the effects of this new world music to spread across the planet. Thirty years after its first hair care products had first been marketed, the brand was established in 62 countries, with no fewer than 45 different products made from fifteen different plants. Plants were more than ever at the core of its strategy at a time when the state of our environment was becoming a prime concern on all continents. After the excesses of the 1970s and 1980s and the explosion of industry all over the world (almost), the world suddenly woke up with a hangover, realising that its natural resources were being depleted, fossil fuels, including oil, at the top of the list. In France, the creation of a Ministry for the Environment in 1971, then the passing of a law on the protection of nature (species and environments) in 1976, was, however, not sufficient to stimulate the consciences of a public already engaged in a headlong race for progress and money. Yet, there were plenty of warning signs: the death of Lake Erie, between Canada and the USA, beginning in 1969, the dioxin pollution crisis at Seveso in 1976, the oil spill from the Amoco Cadiz shipwreck in 1978, the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island the following year and the Bhopal disaster in India in Humanity seemed to be deaf to the cries of the planet. On April 26th, 1986, the Lenin nuclear power station in Chernobyl, Ukraine, then one of the USSR republics, had a level-7 accident, the highest on the international scale of nuclear disasters. The number 4 reactor seized up, leading to a fusion of its core and a subsequent explosion. Significant quantities of radioactive elements were released into the atmosphere, causing environmental contamination without precedent and the permanent evacuation of over 200,000 people. Its effects were even felt in France, where the radioactive cloud was swept. The world finally began to develop an embryonic ecological and social conscience. In the Tarn region of France, Pierre Fabre had long understood the need to preserve biodiversity, a fabulous source of riches for the human race. The accumulation of these unfortunate events, apart from proving that KLORANE s approach had been the right one, encouraged it to reinforce and restructure its original initiatives. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Agrotechnical division, that had been inaugurated in the 1970s, was industrialized and its boundaries were extended to encompass the entire Group. But it was the plant division that really benefited from this accelerated restructuring. It became Phytofilière, a chain of pharmaceutical expertise, controlling each step of the process, from selection of the plants to extraction and the finished product. The whole world became its new giant plant collection. From the great South West of France to Asia, from Africa to the Pacific, the traceability of crops guaranteed supplies and impeccable plant quality. Much more than a business commitment or marketing promise, KLORANE was offering its customers a true commitment of reliability and trust. 34

35 1994 THE RIGHT GESTURE THE KLORANE INSTITUTE IS USEFUL BY VOCATION. Trust was instilled in the plants that KLORANE cultivated with boundless enthusiasm, while at the same time constantly seeking the innovation Seven years earlier, in 1987, the concept of sustainable development appeared for the first time in the Brundtland report, at the World Commission on Environment and Development. In 1992, in Brazil, 173 heads of state met for the second Earth Summit, adopting the Rio Convention and implementing the Agenda 21, an action plan for the 21st century, with a focus on sustainable development. Corporate selfregulation took its first steps. The Pierre Fabre Group and KLORANE kept pace. In 1994, the creation of the KLORANE Institute, a company foundation for the protection and responsible promotion of our natural heritage, added an altruistic and cultural dimension to the activities of the brand. To finance its initiatives, KLORANE decided to take one franc from each bottle of shampoo sold, thus transforming each of its consumers, de facto, into a budding activist. When the KLORANE Institute introduced itself to the press on June 14th, 1994, at the Orangery in the Bagatelle Park in Paris, no one imagined that it would very rapidly become an acknowledged, and durable, actor in informing the public and raising its awareness of the need to protect our environment. From that day, a long-lasting partnership developed between the KLORANE Institute and the pedagogical and institutional world: charity work, teaching of children, etc. Julien Clerc [another famous French singersongwriter] sang Utile [Useful], winning two nominations at the 1994 Victoire de la Musique awards, with the following lyrics: I want to be useful to live and to dream. Nicely synchronised. The KLORANE Institute is useful by vocation. In order to fully incarnate its spirit and place it under the best auspices, the foundation sealed its commitment through the donation of a precious vellum-mounted Pæonia lactiflora to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. This gift was no coincidence. The Chinese Peony was, that year, the latest creation in the KLORANE collection, a very gentle shampoo, respectful of its elders in the catalogue. It was designed to alleviate irritated scalps, assaulted by stress and pollution, thanks to the recognized soothing properties of this perennial plant that originated in central and eastern Asia. Times change, the pace of life accelorates, yet KLORANE remains in the running, catering to women who were becoming increasingly active. The company s product performance was unquestionable, the generous and enchanting texture of the shampoo was inherited from the highly successful Oat Milk range and the newcomer was welcomed by consumers with open arms. Below: Left, the KLORANE Institute has taken on the mission of making children aware of the plant world. Right, the KLORANE Institute promotes phytochemical research. 35

36 1998 THE RIGHT GESTURE 0 As this so-called Fin de Siècle generation of the plant kingdom. In 1998, the La Michonne Botanical drew to a close, having witnessed the Advertisers Union conferred its Phœnix Garden budding and subsequent explosion of the award on the KLORANE Institute in the Internet bubble, the demise of a communist Training-Education category for having ideology and the birth of a new religious brilliantly used innovation as a key to the fundamentalism, the death of the scandalous success of its communication initiatives. The Ava Gardner, the success of Dead Poets phoenix, heavily symbolic, is the mythical Society and the release of Nelson Mandela, bird that always rises again from its ashes in KLORANE steadily preserved, and even the same way that nature, even when brought improved, its position as a favorite brand to its knees, still manages to struggle back to for a multitude of consumers throughout life. A premonitory nod was also made to the the world. But now it was a brand that was date palm that, a few years later, provided KLORANE Institute committed, investing in the protection and KLORANE and its Institute with a myriad of Foundation Building preservation of what has underpinned its opportunities for success through La Grande success since its beginnings: the biodiversity Muraille Verte [the Great Green Wall]. 36

37 o s An inimitable innovation2000>

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39 00 AN INIMITABLE GESTURE In the end, the muchdreaded cyberthreat of the year 2000 fizzled out but the world s complacency had been shaken as it became aware that supports it had considered to be rock-solid could crumble in the blink of an eye. Even the generations themselves were succeeding one another and interlocking according to the schools of thought: Y for some, Z for others. Only the Millennials, the children born with the new century, remained undoubted, precociously integrating the use of information and communication technology (the famous ITC) into their lives, now all subsumed under the omnipotent Internet, a symbol of an exponentially expanding globalization. Are we all citizens of the world? Our clothing is made in Asia and northern Africa, our interior decoration arrives from India by the container-load, the star cereal of the decade, quinoa, is cultivated in Bolivia and Peru, our sneakers, computers and mobile phones, new nomad toys, are stamped Made in China ; after Japan, the new car invasion arrived directly from Korea. How can we find our way in this incredible melting pot? Which brands can we trust? The Mad Cow Disease crisis also occurred at this time. In matters of public health, the principle of precaution became the norm. Consumers were finally able to accede to a new level of discernment, enlightened in their choices by instant and almost boundless information via the Internet, with a simple click of the mouse. They clamoured for more transparency, more traceability. Companies, too, had to wake up and assume more responsibility with global warming and the alarming reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) regularly in the headlines. 39

40 2000 THE BRAND WAS RECOGNISED BY 70% OF FRENCH WOMEN PURCHASING DERMO-COSMETIC PRODUCTS FROM PHARMACIES. Yet again, KLORANE was first at the post. The creation of Phytofilière and the KLORANE Institute had conferred on the brand, and on the whole Pierre Fabre Group, a legitimacy envied by many. In 40 years, certain product listings even became classics, veritable heritage institutions whose secret was passed down from mother to daughter: Chamomile hair lightening shampoo, Oat Milk dry shampoo, the KLORANE baby product range with its inimitable fragrance and the soothing Cornflower make-up removal range. The brand was recognised by 70% of French women purchasing dermo-cosmetic products from pharmacies. KLORANE loves women and women love KLORANE. KLORANE instils a philtre of this Desire to love, as sung in 2000 by the artists of the musical comedy Les Dix Commandements [The Ten Commandments], thanks to a clever alchemy between natural botany and pharmaceutical precision; the perfect alliance between science and nature. This approach was not only unique, but more importantly, a differentiating factor in an overcrowded market. In an era dominated by the short term, respect for time, the cycles of nature and the rhythm of humanity proves that there is another way forward. Famously ahead of the game, KLORANE successfully eulogized the slow but steady approach. Each product is manufactured with the utmost care and tested before being launched. This is only natural when we consider that these products affect what is most precious to us, our skin and hair. Beginning in the 2000s, the brand pursued its step by step innovation policy throughout Europe - kaizen as the Japanese say - with customized shampoos and treatment products with a focus on in-depth benefits. What better signature than The power of plants to sum up the values and actions of KLORANE? 40

41 2001 AN INIMITABLE INNOVATION Although, from its beginnings, the beauty of innovation has inspired each step of its development strategy, the gesture made by KLORANE in June 2001 at Cambounetsur-Sor in the Tarn region was exceptional. Nestling in the heart of a 12 acre forest protected by an estate of a another 61 acres dedicated to organic farming, the Pierre Fabre Botanical Conservatory opened its doors. Here, plants are at home, or more precisely in their kingdom, sheltered by a privileged environment for their conservation and the enhancement of their species. A vast mansion harbors over 7,000 plants and a store for pharmacists. Two greenhouses hold specimens from all latitudes while an extraordinary botanical garden covering 5,000 square meters holds medicinal, edible, cosmetic and dye plants among others, with a total of 900 species, including the plants used in the KLORANE shampoos. As the geographical center of Phytofilière, the Conservatory shares the same vocation: a depository for the Group s plant expertise where scientific caution underpins the KLORANE s expertise, rooting it permanently in the pharmaceutical realm where every claim can be scientifically proven. Science works hand-in-hand with nature for the benefit of all hair types. From that time, new ranges were launched in quick succession. As an example, in the same year, KLORANE selected Corsican Citron for its uniquely soft flesh and developed a feather-light hair care formula with scientifically demonstrated patented efficacy. The target of this new frequent-use range was hair that tended to become oily very quickly. It came to the aid of scalp build-up by excessive pollution and hard water of our modern times. Citrus medica L. gently cleans and detoxifies, leaving the hair light and bursting with vitality. KLORANE thus inaugurated its regimen of special customized treatment products, both a natural and a technical solution for the whole family s hair care needs. It was much more than a regimen, in fact. It reflected a very fine segmentation strategy to meet the expectations of increasingly demanding consumers. Inspired by the vogue for spas and body care treatments, the advent of a basic trend for well-being and personal development, hair care gradually mutated into a ritual. Formerly practical and purely utilitarian, it now attained a new status. With KLORANE, it became unique. Taking care of your hair is first and foremost taking care of yourself. HAIR CARE GRADUALLY TRANSFORMED INTO A RITUAL. 41

42 2002 Since April 2001, the lead character of a film, Amélie Poulain, engulfed the world in gentleness, with her cute face and jet-black bob, and a fabulous destiny was also promised to the KLORANE novelty of the year. Punica granatum L. was used to create a special shampoo, cream and treatment for color treated hair. In Morocco, where KLORANE cultivates this plant and harvests it by hand, Pomegranate has been used for centuries for its beneficial properties on dyes. A precious active ingredient is extracted from its bark that preserves color about twice as long as usual. A new patent was filed and the range became a huge commercial success in all the countries where it was distributed. Reassured by this positive response, KLORANE decided to extend its scope beyond the realm of shampoos. Creams, balms, waxes, masks and oils were developed to complement the cleansing process. And KLORANE s hair care products were enriched with a range of targeted solutions for all types of women and hair. Consumers were delighted. The health & beauty press was just as impressed, awarding the brand a laurel wreath. It won no fewer than seven laurel awards in the space of five years, for its Citron, Pomegranate, Oat Milk and Mango Butter ranges. 1 KLORANE BECAME, IN THE PRIVACY OF THEIR BATHROOMS, AN ACCOMPLICE TO EACH OF THEIR BEAUTY MOMENTS In 2003, KLORANE repeated its success with the launch of a special hair loss prevention regimen called K1 K2, formulated with on the olive tree and Mediterranean pine. But it was definitely with its nutritional Mango Butter range that it made its mark on the decade. Texture, fragrance, colour, color: the new products with their active ingredient of almond kernel extract are a concentrate of KLORANE s expertise. Mangifera indica L. achieved great success. In fact, the fruit of this sacred tree cultivated in India, in strict observance of the ecosystems, was an unmitigated triumph. As the years passed, new product variations were added to the three initial versions, now a regimen consisiting of five products. Chinese Peony, Corsican Citron, Moroccan Pomegranate and Indian Mango have enriched a botanical collection already global in scope. Forever seeking original active ingredients, the phytochemists at the KLORANE Laboratories left the familiar sphere of the European pharmacopoeia and traveled the world to enrich the brand s plant heritage even more. Immersing oneself in nature to better reveal its treasures was the key concept, perfectly aligned with the new green attitude that dominated the end of this decade. Plants were ever more at the forefront at KLORANE. Even the communication strategy of the brand itself, entrusted to the Palais Royal agency, presented them photographed according to a process directly inspired by radiography. Each revealed its intimate power by transparency, keeping as close as possible to their vital active ingredients. Intimacy, transparency and proximity: at the dawn of its 40th anniversary, KLORANE was more radiant than ever, as were the women who remained faithful to it since its creation. An honest brand with increasingly affirmed social commitment, it became, in the privacy of their bathrooms, an accomplice to each of their beauty moments. And beside other cult products, the Made by Us regained its rightful place in the French national heritage. 42

43 o s So many other gestures to invent 2010>

44 10 SO MANY OTHER GESTURES TO INVENT The 2010s had now arrived, the decade of the 2000s already devoured with eagerness and greed. In Europe, from January 1st, 2002, the single currency, the euro, started replacing the national currencies without managing to divert the galloping financialization of the economy. On January 1st, 2010, the whole world was asking itself: Where do we go from here? If only we could see things more clearly. The banking and financial crisis inherited from the previous decade had devastated the capitalist system; growth was at a standstill. The Arab countries experienced their Spring, a vast movement of revolt that sowed the seeds of emancipation. Shattered by the attacks of September 11th, 2001 in the USA, humanity has not ceased to question, doubt and hope for its future. On all sides, the old societal models started showing signs of wear-and-tear, gradually crumbling. But what could we invent to take their place? Should we turn towards space? Toward Mars where NASA managed to prove the existence of water in the past? Toward ourselves, a new space to conquer? Toward others and the phenomenon of the co- generation, a reinvented version of doing things together : cooperation, co-creation, co-working, co-driving? In spite of the emergence and experimentation of new paradigms, there were still no concrete solutions in sight. By the mid-2010s, the world was turning towards what it found most reassuring, what it knew best: its past. And it proudly tried to revive the whirlwind effervescence of the 1980s. 44

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46 KLORANE was up and ready to combat the widespread pessimism and weariness with the big guns of Quinine and Caffeine. In the ring and on the mat, hair was devitalized and capillary fibers were weakened. At KLORANE, a new Fortifying Cure was injected with an invigorated complex combining the two plant active ingredients, an Iron Man for hair, as the press enthused at the launch. And, as always, the gesture: practical, precise and easy to use, thanks to its pump canister with an applicator nozzle. The challenge ended, unsurprisingly, in an undisputed victory: the cure was enough to restore a head of hair bursting with vitality. The tone had been set. When Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, died in this year, KLORANE forged ahead with its strategy of targeted hair care products with renewed strength, relying on its painstaking observation of plants and increasingly rigorous scientific research. In the same line, KLORANE started the next year with a cure for dry, damaged and brittle hair, a real challenge. But the fantastic powers of nature are never to be underestimated. In the heart of the desert, in the middle of the Sahel, the KLORANE botanists exhumed the virtues of the date palm, a model of resistance in the most extreme of dry conditions. They were interested more precisely in the date kernels from which the active ingredient could be extracted and used for the new resistancebuilding hair care product. But their achievement did not stop there. Resolutely committed, together with the KLORANE Institute Foundation, through its Desert Date Palm range, the brand became involved in an ambitious ecological program, La Grande Muraille Verte [The Great Green Wall], to come to the aid of eleven African continent. Its objective? To create a vast band of plants with a multitude of species, crossing the TO CREATE A VAST RANGE OF PLANTS WITH A MULTITUDE OF SPECIES, CROSSING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT FROM WEST TO EAST, FROM DAKAR TO DJIBOUTI, OVER 4350 MILES LONG AND 9 MILES WIDE. African country from West to East, from Dakar to Djibouti, over 4350 miles long and 9 miles wide. From now until 2017, no fewer than 10,000 date palms will be planted each year, helping to arrest the advance of the desert: a true project for the future. And thinking of the future, far from frightening KLORANE, is stimulating its creativity. Consolidating its commitment, the brand is pushing the boundaries of its initiative even further. The Desert Date Palm range is the first to be environmentally conceived: biodegradable formulas, recycled packaging, fair trade plant sector. By the end of 2012, an important milestone was reached. KLORANE officially became the first dermo-cosmetic brand to be awarded the ECOCERT ISO label for corporate self-regulation in matters concerning sustainable development. Behind each promise of hair beauty, KLORANE contributes, in its own way, to the beauty of our planet. Right: On its 20th anniversary, the KLORANE Institute offered Herbariums on stage workshops in

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49 The KLORANE Institute s ambitious ecological program: The Great Green Wall Initiative, supporting 11 African countries. 49

50 2013 TO INFUSE NEW LIFE INTO FINE, LIMP HAIR, THE PROTECTIVE AND TEXTURIZING COATING EFFECT OF FLAX FIBER ON THE HAIR, FROM ROOTS TO ENDS, IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. A sad year that should have been lucky. On July 20th, Mr Pierre Fabre died in his home in Lavaur, in the Tarn region. KLORANE will always mourn this visionary father who was responsible for making the brand the grand dame of French dermo-cosmetics that it has become. As a worthy heir of the company s founder, and above all, in homage to his creative genius and history of inspiration, KLORANE continued its drive to innovate with the launch of a range of volumeenhancing hair products for fine, limp hair, made from flax seed fibers. There is no doubt that Mr Pierre Fabre would have been proud. Four prestigious awards were conferred on the pretty blue range with its airy elegance: ELLE Beauty Awards 2014, Avantages, Version Femina and, for the first time in the life of KLORANE, the Prix d Excellence for Beauty, awarded by the magazine Marie-Claire. The words of the feminine press were also eulogistic, recommending the astonishing virtues of these little grains cultivated locally, at the very doors of the KLORANE Laboratories: To infuse new life into desperately thin hair, the protective and grooming effect of linseed on the hair, from roots to ends, is absolutely amazing. A final homage and a heartfelt goodbye was made to the company s Pygmalion, the inventor of Botanical Precision that is now the brand s signature. 50

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52 2014: launch of the dry shampoo for brown to dark hair. 52

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54 2016 So here we are: KLORANE is 50 years old. Stretching out behind it is the whole history of women, and of men too, a fascinating history of the precious and the precise, the rare and the rigorous, the inspiring and committed, and of course the famous gestures. They all weave and consolidate their relationship of complicity and trust with the French people of yesterday and the citizens of the world today. For 50 years now, KLORANE is still supported by the well-intentioned spirits of nature and the good fairy that has been watching over it since its creation. Now they have whispered to KLORANE the idea of a range of anti-aging treatments formulated with Essential Olive extract to restore the vitality of youth to thinning hair. This is a real birthday gift, subtly saluting the company s well-earned maturity. EVERYTHING THAT IS EXQUISITE MATURES SLOWLY wrote the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in the 19th century, a citation that KLORANE makes its own today, since it is keen to remain in the century of those who love it, express their love for it and have made of it this exquisite jewel in the heritage of French brands. 54

55 SO HERE WE ARE: KLORANE IS 50 YEARS OLD AND SO MANY OTHER GESTURES STILL TO INVENT. 55

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