Perfume bottles on a production line at L’Oréal’s Gauchy plant, December 11, 2020. DENIS CHARLET / AFP
Behind the Lancôme production line, Fanny Krawiec put on her protective gloves. From the carousel, she carefully removed an Idôle Nectar bottle, a L’Oréal fragrance. “This one is the peach bottle. It’s made here in three sizes: 25 ml, 50 ml and 100 ml,” explained the 34-year-old operator, who has worked as a temporary employee at the French group’s Gauchy plant since late 2024.
The vast majority of this facility, which opened in 1986, is dedicated to producing perfumes for Lancôme, Saint Laurent, Armani and Valentino, L’Oréal’s top fragrance brands, with revenue reaching €43.5 billion in 2024. Several lines are also devoted to producing Prada bottles, a license L’Oréal secured from the Puig group in 2018. In 2026, Miu Miu, another license previously held by the Spanish group, will follow. “And soon, there may be others,” said Antoine Vanlaeys, L’Oréal’s chief operations officer, hinting at Gucci, Balenciaga and other brands from the Kering group, whose beauty division is currently being acquired by L’Oréal for €4 billion.
Without waiting for the final signing of this major contract or for the start of the licensing agreement with Gucci (expected in 2028), the group led by Nicolas Hieronimus is already expanding. In Gauchy, at its second perfume plant, the world’s leading beauty company is ramping up production capacity at a rapid pace.
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