Lush Takes it Forward
Founded in 1995 by six co owners, Lush now has over 900 shops worldwide, with over 100 of them in the UK. A brand that believes in ‘Good Value’, ‘Fresh’ and ‘Organic’, with little or no preservative or packaging, and creating pioneering beauty products.
Its Co-Founder and Managing Director, Mark Constantine OBE, has always been ahead of the game, with strong beliefs and morals that he has introduced, transforming the cosmetics industry. The company is infamous for being absolutely opposed to animal testing, and thanks to Mark they have a Supplier Specific Boycott Policy, unique in its field, meaning that Lush will not buy ingredients from any supplier that tests any of its materials on animals. Lush has also created a wide range of solid products, and almost 40% of their current range is designed to be sold without packaging, thus reducing the affect of waste accumulating in Landfill sites. It’s moves like these, together with their ban of UK mainland domestic flights and donations to transport and climate change groups, taken from their own imposing taxes on the carbon dioxide emissions on the international flights their staff make, that make this company so forward thinking. So then it’s with no surprise that we learn that Lush is moving further into the digital era.
Jack Constantine is Lush Digital Managing Director, and is the y
oungest son of Co-Founders Mark and Mo. Jack joined Lush in 2002.
Throughout his time in the company, Jack has created a number of websites, as well as the Company’s social media presence through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts. Then in 2013 he became the Managing Director of Lush Digital, leading their communications, marketing and branding into the digital era. Now, thanks to their social media, we are able watch real time events and updates, such as inner workings of the factory and the actual making of Lush products, streamed live through Lush’s website – www.lush.co.uk
Jack, as Executive Producer, was responsible for creating their fabulous film ‘The Experimenter’ which shows ‘Cosmetics as Art’ – you can watch the beautiful footage they’ve created here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPX1N7yGheo
The film was inspired by the current trend of Lush fans sharing their own bath time works of art through social media, and for this video Lush used nothing but their own fresh, handmade products and ingredients.
The idea of the film was to capture an explosion of colour and texture that’s representative of the whole Lush creative process. And it does. ‘The Experimenter’ showcases the fascinating effects of Lush’s fresh products and ingredients in action: exploding bath bombs; morphing liquids; swirling product components and compounds; surfaces colour bombed by lustres (PET free). The subsequent stunning imagery is choreographed by the specially composed orchestral score, ‘Wings At Their Feet’.
Shot using a Phantom Flex4K camera, the film has been captured at 4k ultra high definition, almost four times the detail of HD, so that you can see the products and textures so vividly. Lush worked with the award-winning Production agency, The Mill (who also collaborated on Baz Luhrmann’s Chanel No5 feature advert) to shoot the ultra high definition footage in different environments, capturing these stunning shots of colour, texture and movement. As a result, the slow-motion images with the original musical score produces something quite breath taking.
To enhance the cinematic experience, Lush commissioned acclaimed electronica producer and recording artist Simon “Palm Skin” Richmond to compose the original musical piece to accompany the film. The emotive score is inspired by the synergy between the creative and visual process of inventing products and of creating music. Featuring choral ensemble The London Voices and a 45-piece orchestra, it was recorded at The Angel Studios.
Jack Constantine, comments:
“This piece of art is a beautiful illustration of experimentation delving into the process behind our product invention. The collaboration between musical, cosmetic and visual artists has been a challenging creative journey with a rewarding result.”
I asked Jack, “What can we expect to see from Lush as it moves deeper into the digital era?”
“This new digital era becomes a great platform for us to connect with passionate communities of fans and beauty lovers across the globe. As we explore this it opens up opportunities to launch new features like a fan club full of exclusive products and merchandise, building our campaigning efforts across the intern and listening to, and interacting with customers more than ever. 2015 is an exciting year for us.”
And I’m sure it will be an exciting year too – It’s their 20th anniversary this year and to celebrate this amazing milestone they will be opening their largest (9500 sq. ft.) shop in the world on 24 April 2015, on London’s Oxford Street. Lush tell me this will be their flagship store, showcasing new concepts, experiences and products and also include a Lush Spa with 4 treatment rooms (1 double). A destination for global shoppers visiting one of London’s most popular shopping streets. I’m looking forward to it.
Happy Anniversary!