Milano Beauty Week’s Sophomore Edition to Run After City’s Fashion Shows
MILAN — Milano Beauty Week is changing dates for its sophomore edition.
After its debut last year in spring, the city’s consumer-facing event dedicated to beauty is moving to fall and will run from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, right after Milan Fashion Week.
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The new timing and schedule of events was shared Friday, when organizers hosted a press conference.
In addition to the new dates, another novelty is the doubling in the number of primary sites dedicated to the event. The Palazzo Castiglioni location will be added to the Palazzo Giureconsulti building in being turned into a Beauty Village that will host panels, workshops, laboratories and charity events related to the cosmetic world. These will be flanked by activations across the city, at beauty retailers, department stores, perfumeries and pharmacies, as well as cultural spots that will be involved in the week-long edition.
A brainchild of the national association of beauty companies Cosmetica Italia in collaboration with the Cosmoprof and Esxence trade shows, the initiative was introduced last year with the goal to promote the values of the Italian cosmetic industry and create awareness around both the social and economic roles it plays in the country.
“Last year we launched an extremely ambitious and unprecedented cultural project: to create and implement a large-scale event that could narrate to anyone the values of our industry, its relevance for the country and the essential nature of cosmetics,” said Cosmetica Italia’s president Benedetto Lavino.
According to data released by the association, total sales of the local beauty industry grew 12.4 percent to 13.3 billion euros in 2022, and are projected to increase 7.9 percent this year. In particular, sales generated in the Lombardy region accounted for 66.2 percent of the national total.
Last year, overall exports grew 18.5 percent to 5.8 billion euros compared to the previous year, while projections show 10 percent growth for 2023.
The industry plays a key role on the occupational front as well as for its scientific impact, since local beauty companies invest an average of 6 percent in innovation, double the investment made by other manufacturing industries in the country.
In presenting the program for the upcoming edition, Accademia del Profumo’s president Ambra Martone underscored the inclusive nature of the event, since all activities will be open to the public and mainly free.
The city’s central Palazzo Giureconsulti will continue to include beauty corners, olfactory and floral laboratories to train visitors on the importance of raw materials for cosmetics. Novelties will include the Wellness Lodge section offering free sessions of yoga, face yoga and meditation in the morning, as well as the Never Ending Beauty project promoting the circularity of the industry. Here, visitors will be invited to bring their old and empty bottles of beauty products, which will be replaced with new ones by partner companies of the event, while they will also receive information on how the packaging will be recycled or repurposed.
Among the new implementations at Palazzo Castiglioni, the Dermocosm section will host scientific sessions about skin-related topics, ranging from anti-aging treatments to skin issues, in a bid to bring together experts such as doctors, pharmacists and aestheticians, and the public. Other initiatives will include “Love is in the Hair,” which will offer hair styling sessions and treatments upon a donation to support scientific research to cure cancer and an exhibition dedicated to Italy’s perfume history.
While companies and retailers will be invited to stage events throughout the week independently, organizers will coordinate a series of activities across the city, including setting the Beauty Cube pop-ups; running the Beauty Tram, which will turn one of Milan’s signature public transportation trains into an itinerant beauty station offering express makeup sessions and beauty consultations; promoting the Beauty Saturday Night, which will have beauty stores open until late at night, as well as offering olfactory guided tours through the city, among others.
Special events will also include Accademia del Profumo’s annual award ceremony, which will be staged on Sept. 26 at the Teatro Strehler theater and for the first time be open to public.
The ultimate goal of the initiative is to replicate the FuoriSalone format that has sealed the success of Milan Design Week over the years, and make the event an annual one that could turn Milan into a global epicenter for beauty, too, in addition to design and fashion.
This could benefit Milan not only in terms of image, reputation and attractiveness but also economically. Local institutions shared that the city during the February edition of Milan Fashion Week generated 70 million euros across all its different sectors, from transportation to hospitality, from restaurants to retailers, and more than 200 million euros during Milan Design Week.
Last year, Milano Beauty Week attracted 10,000 visitors to the Palazzo Giureconsulti hub and featured more than 900 events across the city, involving 100 companies and more than 100 stores through different formats. As reported, one of the highlights was a special award bestowed on Giorgio Armani, who was celebrated for having won the highest number of Accademia del Profumo prizes in the organization’s history, which traces back to 1990.
The inaugural edition ran in early May, right after Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, since the original idea was to create a unique momentum for beauty in the country, with the Bologna trade show followed by the events in Milan and the Esxence show dedicated to niche perfumery. But that idea was disrupted by the postponement of the Esxence show to the following month.
The next edition of Esxence will run March 6 to 9 in Milan, followed by Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna. The latter is scheduled for March 21 to 24 and will tweak its format by opening all its sections at the same time. In particular, Cosmopack and Cosmo Perfumery & Cosmetics will run for three days, while Cosmo Hair, Nail & Beauty Salon — which are dedicated to the professional channel — will run throughout the whole show.
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