The finer things in life somehow resonate better in Paris than anywhere else on the planet. Steeped in rich layers of history and a centre of excellence on many levels for many centuries, have made it the leading hub in luxury and lifestyle it is today. As such, it’s hardly surprising innovations, especially in the luxury segment, surface here first and abundantly, and the launch of the En boutique and spa is indicative of this. As a newly launched cosmetics brand of Lenor Japan, the high-end En product line is manufactured in Japan, using extracts of organically grown plants, and making scrubs composed of precious rock salts, and powders from Japanese tea leaves. Tucked away in a quiet side street in the leafy Odéon area of town and a stone’s throw away from the ornate Palais du Luxembourg, the En boutique and spa occupy the ground floor and basement of an 18th-century building. The interior design, created by Yusuke Kinoshita and Daisuke Sekine of Paris-based architecture practice Archiee, takes cues from the brand name – the phoneme En not only means ‘beauty’ in Japanese, but also ‘connection’ and ‘circle’ – and is largely designed by pristine white and brass-covered surfaces.
While most of the existing elements have been retained, new circular partitions were added to create a softer atmosphere that’s not only compatible with En‘s core business of beauty and wellness. On a practical level, the new partitions helped create spaces suitable for counselling, facial treatments, massages and essence blending. In true Japanese style, clients are required to walk along a corridor first, before being able to enter the room of choice. En features four main rooms, and the two spaces below ground come with beautiful stone vaulted ceilings, an original element of the building. It’s also the fitting backdrop for the product gallery, an impressive showcase of all of En’s skincare creams, lotions and oils. Each bottle is displayed separately with special lighting, and so are the exquisitely crafted storage boxes made from Paulownia wood. For the branding of En, the mother company appointed creative director Yuji Tokuda and his agency Canaria to create a matching identity, including logo design, packaging design, and all the collateral items that come with it.
En
7 rue de Condé (Odéon)
75006 Paris
Telephone: +33 1 42028716
Tue-Sat 11-8
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
