Beloved skincare brand Aēsop may have started out as a team of a dozen or so people in Melbourne, but almost 30 years on and the beauty house now has more than 1200 hundred staff worldwide and some 150 boutiques around the world.
Anyone familiar with cult skincare purveyor will be aware of Aēsop’s unique approach to design and the role it plays in its product and retail environments. For a start, no two boutiques are alike. But Aēsop’s design element extends beyond the beauty house’s own doors. “Beauty has often been about celebrities, but for us, it’s about art, culture and literature. And those are areas that are often under supported in the community,”explains Michael O’Keeffe, Aēsop’s CEO. explains when seeking out designers and architects to collaborate with on new boutiques, they turn to emerging local talent. “When we open in a community, hopefully we can support it with some trade, but we always work with up-and-coming creatives, writers, designers and artists.”
With each space having its own story to tell, it’s a hard task playing favourites but we’ve managed to whittle the list down to a handful of favourites – all worth checking out when travelling.
