Interview on innovation with Viviane Lipskier

November 9, 2021, Paris. A launch brings with it a host of emotions, but also wonderful encounters. Viviane Lipskier, a specialist in DNVBs (Digital Native Vertical Brands), interviewed Ganaël Bascoul, who took over Maison COTTAN, as part of her long-form format called OCULUS, available on LinkedIn and Medium.

This long and dense exchange covers a wide range of topics: innovation and sustainable development, stochastics and multiverses, selective distribution and e-commerce, brand studios and aggregators... But of course, and above all, Maison COTTAN. Here are a few selected excerpts from the interview, which we invite you to read.

On approaches to innovation in the face of new challenges, such as naturalness in cosmetic formulations: 

"If we want to profoundly change our approach to a problem, we have to change the method. And when I see that, in order to formulate 'green' products, everyone takes the same formula skeleton and replaces petrochemical ingredients with natural ingredients point by point, I find that strange. We can achieve this by taking a different path."

On the vision that a brand must have in order to fuel its research and creativity over time: 

"When you look at the big companies, they had an intellectual premise, a vision of women, or a vision of beauty, or a strong founding concept. And in our case, I think that very early on, Cottan came up with very modern formulation solutions, and that for contextual or historical reasons, rather than objective reasons, they were forgotten. He brought types of galenics and types of formulations that respond extraordinarily well to the issues of naturalness and sustainable development. So yes, the vision that carried this house and its creation, and which carries its rebirth today, has a real raison d'être and responds to the challenges of the sector."

Finally, on the indescribable joy of imagining a parallel between two such distant times, in the same streets of Paris: 

Yes, there is a certain poetry in thinking that in a few weeks' time, a woman will have a Cottan cream in her handbag in Paris, where 150 years ago, the same thing happened.

Many thanks to Viviane for this rich dialogue—and for her immense patience in transcribing this long interview, which we invite you to read and comment on if you would like to discuss these topics. 

NB: And if you prefer audio formats, tune in to Beauty Toaster for a behind-the-scenes look at the rebirth of COTTAN.