Aesop

Aesop was founded in Melbourne in 1987 by Dennis Paphitis, a hairdresser who became dissatisfied with the synthetic hair products of the day and began formulating his own. The first products — a small line of shampoos and conditioners for use in his Armadale salon — sold to other salons and slowly expanded. The brand's first standalone store opened in 1995 in Albert Park, Melbourne, designed by architect Kerstin Thompson; that store established the visual language that has remained constant ever since. The Aesop product approach is built on two thesis points: every product is formulated with botanical extracts and aromatic essential oils, and every store is conceived as an architectural one-off (over 250 stores worldwide, almost all designed in collaboration with different local architects — Snøhetta, Frida Escobedo, Vincent Van Duysen, Sou Fujimoto, Studio Ilse). The brown Boston-round bottle and the in-store experience together form a hospitality-grade approach to skincare retail. Aesop was acquired in 2012 by Brazilian beauty conglomerate Natura &Co for an undisclosed sum, and sold in 2023 to L'Oréal for $2.5B — the largest acquisition in L'Oréal's history. Despite the new ownership, Aesop has retained its operational autonomy, its formulation centre in Melbourne, and its architectural rigour. The brand still does not advertise.