Monaco has created some of the most popular products worldwide and is home to some of the best luxury brands. This series will explore the brands that were born and developed in the principality, revealing the ideas behind the brands and how they came to be. It will give you new insight into products that you might use daily and that you possibly don’t even know were created here!
History of the brand
Lets start with the world-renowned Lancaster brand. The story began in 1946 when Lancaster was established in Monaco as an exclusive member of the COTY group, a manufacturer specializing in the production of some of the world’s most successful luxury brands, including Chloé, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, Botega Venetta and many more.
The origin of the name Lancaster is explained in the story of its creation. Georges Wurz, an industrialist and Lancaster pilot in the Second World War, ended up in Monaco after he fled the occupied territories in 1940. During his time on the Côte d’Azur he met a chemist specialized in cosmetics, Dr. Eugene Frezzati. Both men were searching for a new endeavor and were inspired to create a future based on luxury beauty products, marking the beginning of the successful Lancaster Company. The name Lancaster therefore originated from the bomber plane that Wurz flew as a pilot in WWII, the ‘Avro Lancaster’, a British four-engine bomber designed for the Royal Air Force.
The Monaco based Company, which currently employs about 270 people, primarily focuses on the manufacture of skincare products, sunscreens, makeup and deodorant. For the past 70 years, Lancaster has been committed to its sun and beauty heritage as well as making women feel better about themselves.
The high quality of the products allowed the brand to gain respectability and an excellent reputation throughout the Principality, establishing the grounds for the company’s future success. It wasn’t long before the brand expanded its reach not only to the whole of France but also other European countries, even spreading to parts of Asia and the Middle East.
Attention of Monaco royalty
Impressively, Lancaster’s high quality products also grabbed the attention of Monaco royalty becoming the appointed supplier of Her Serene Highness Grace of Monaco. You might have seen the brands ads featuring Princess Stephanie’s daughter Pauline Ducruet, which continues the legacy of the Monegasque family’s ties with Lancaster. The brand is cutting-edge, introducing innovative cosmetic formulas into their products, proving to be a leader in anti-ageing research with their ‘Ligne Princiere’ as they aim to ‘stop the sands of time’.
Innovations
In fact, through their extensive research into various anti-ageing formulas the company was able to establish itself as a pioneer in the business, being the first brand to utilize the anti-ageing powers of Retinol in their innovative range of skincare ‘Suractif’ in 1976. A huge milestone for skincare!
Similarly in 1993, Lancaster created a revolutionary product known as Skin Therapy Vital Oxygen Supply that delivers pure oxygen to the skin, and in 2002 sought to minimize free-radical damage through RPF sun technology, calling themselves experts in sun protection as they developed a safer way to tan.
Innovation is a renowned tradition at Lancaster. The range is developed and added to over the years, the products are continuously improved and adapted to meet the ever-growing needs of the consumer. Their sun range created in 1971 is still in fact as popular as ever, as the product of choice for many customers searching for the best sunprotection, quality self-tanners and sun makeup.
So, does the brand deliver on its anti-ageing and skincare promises? The main advantage of Lancaster cosmetic brand is the care taken to create products that are loved by the public and satisfy their expectations. Thanks to the consistent technological improvements to the product formulas, using the best new ingredients and research, client loyalty is maintained. Many consumers comment on the effectiveness of the products, how velvety they feel on the skin, how well their skin reacts to it and the protection it brings. Clinical tests have also shown that their anti-ageing products, such as Wrinkle Repair Day Cream, if used on a daily basis can cause a 29% decrease in wrinkle volume.
It is not hard to see why the Lancaster brand is so popular not only in Monaco, where it all started, but all over the world.
