The Future of Beauty: Shiseido Travel Retail bolstered by Group’s new Global Innovation Centre

Shiseido Group opened its new research hub – the Shiseido Global Innovation Centre – in April, in the Minato Mirai 21 area in Yokohama, Japan. GIC, (also referred to as ‘S/PARK’) is expected to further strengthen Shiseido Travel Retail’s pioneering skincare and cosmetic innovations.

With the centre’s expert researchers and state-of-the art facilities and equipment, the Group will share innovations of Japanese origin beyond borders and across industries.

Philippe Lesné, President and CEO, Shiseido Travel Retail, said: “We are committed to remaining at the forefront of product innovation and development, so the unveiling of our new Global Innovation Centre is very rewarding for us. It is another tangible step forward for Shiseido Group and we are looking forward to seeing what this means for our company, as we continue to reach new heights. We are proud to be backed by a fusion of research, science and nature, and, through the work of our talented team across the globe, we will keep on inspiring through beauty innovations.”

As an urban open lab, the GIC supports and promotes comprehensive communication and collaboration with consumers, researchers, business partners and experts inside and outside of Japan, achieving new, flexible and diverse working styles and inspiring creativity and imaginations through the state-of-the-art research facilities and equipment of its newly styled offices, says the company.

The goal, says Shiseido, is to achieve “the fusion of diverse people and knowledge” to create unprecedented value. The GIC began welcoming visitors to its open public communication spaces on April 13, 2019.

The Centre

    The first and second floors of the GIC are dedicated open communication spaces where visitors and researchers can interact, offering various content based on the concept of “getting inspired by beauty.” The collaboration area on the fourth floor includes a lab for joint research with outside institutions and an exclusive space for business meetings. Research facilities and equipment to support fundamental research are located on the fifth through 15th floors. The novel office layout enables researchers to pursue more flexible and diverse working styles, while ad hoc work and communication spaces allow for a free-flow exchange of ideas and opinions.

The Research

    Since opening its Testing Room in 1916 for product development and improvement, Shiseido has created high-quality products on the strength of its fundamental research into sensitivity analysis, safety and reliability, and dermatology. Today, Shiseido’s multiple global research centers are engaged in various R&D activities to study and analyze skin conditions and make-up activities of consumers in each region.

     Looking towards the future of beauty in an increasingly diverse global market, Shiseido will enhance its research in digital and environmental technologies, and accelerate R&D in three key categories:

1) The Cosmetics, the improvement cosmetics research

2) New Category, the proposal of unprecedented areas on the cosmetics spectrum

3) Unlimited Beauty, the exploration of new beauty solutions going beyond cosmetics

     To this end, Shiseido will shift its research style, integrating outside expertise with its continuing focus on new findings.