Shiseido

Leading Japanese luxury cosmetics house. Founded in 1872 in Tokyo by the doctor and chemist Yushin Fukuhara, Shiseido’s success depends on its deep integration of art and science. One such example was its creation in 1897 of Eudermine, an innovative face cream both in terms of its image and formula. A few years later, Fukuhara converted his pharmacy into an American-style drugstore and sent his son Shinzo to study at Columbia University. A chemist by training and an artist by vocation, in 1915, Shinzo took over the running of the company and decided to concentrate more on cosmetics than pharmaceutical products. He surrounded himself with artists who created the design department while he worked on the branding and logo for Shiseido — the famous camellia which became the emblem of the house. The leading line focuses on how to combat the effects of ageing skin; Shiseido has always given and continues to give particular attention to its research activities in this area. The Yokahama laboratories, which are among the most modern in the world, employ more than 1,000 dermatologists, biologists, and researchers, who develop avantgarde formulas and treatments every year. Remaining faithful to its roots, the house continues to value the artistic and cultural dimension of communication, and attaches great importance to the contributions to the company’s image of artists and photographers of international fame. Today, the company has 9 production bases in Japan and 11 in the rest of the world, and covers markets in more than 50 countries.
&Quad;2000, November. The Research into the Science of Life laboratory was set up.
&Quad;2001. Shiseido set up 10 factories abroad: 3 in the Americas, 2 in France and 5 spread across Asia and Oceania.
&Quad;2001-2002. The group’s sales were largely based on cosmetics, which account for 76.3% of total sales.
&Quad;2001. It introduced the highly successful innovation Fine Rice, which is a type of hypoallergenic rice used in all the major Japanese hospitals. Another important development was Shiseido’s introduction of technologies in the chemical sector, in particular, chromatherapy and the creation of pigments containing photochromatic titanium dioxide which is widely used for paints in the car industry.
&Quad;2002, October. The company announced consolidated profits of 90 million euros for the first half of 2002, which was 20% up on forecasts. The figure was particularly surprising when one considers that during the same period the previous year Shiseido had lost 15 million euros. The success was due partly to the launch of a new line of treatments and make-up, and partly to favorable conditions in the European and Middle Eastern markets.
&Quad;2003, March. With Milan Municipality, the group backed the Segnali d’arte, segnali di moda (Signals in Art, Signals in Fashion) competition set up by Grazia which awards prizes to young designers during ready-to-wear week.
&Quad;2005. Shiseido’s facial product Bio-Performance Super Lifting Formula, created using innovative biotechnology, won the 2005 Skincare Prix d’Excellence.