Cosmetic valley
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A story that began in the 1970's
The decentralisation policy of the 1970’s prompted the leading perfume companies to withdraw from the Paris region. Many of them set up production facilities to the south of the greater Paris region (Ile de France) such as Guerlain, Coty-Lancaster and Paco Rabanne, which set up in Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), Dior in Orleans (Loiret) and Hermès in the Eure department. The presence of these leading industries led to an increasing number of SME’s to set up both upstream and downstream of the position occupied by the leading brands and included manufacturers of raw materials, perfume compositors, plastics specialists and logistical experts as well as cosmetics specialists, marketing designers and control laboratories, etc. Similarly, foreign investments in the industry decided to set up their European bridgeheads in the heart of this region where the combination of beauty companies and many other professionals made it easier to start up operations. The Japanese company Shiseido set up in the Loiret whereas the Korean Pacific and the German company Reckitt chose Eure-et-Loir.