Mehdi Lisi, Mane: “The Diversity & Inclusion in Beauty Chair gives us the chance to refresh our creative ideas and train our future employees”

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Why did Mane want to create the Chair?

Mehdi Lisi : Firstly, because the concepts of diversity and inclusion correspond to our corporate culture and the values that are important to us. Samantha Mane is the first woman to be appointed as Mane CEO, reflecting her leadership role in an industry that has long been dominated by men. These are themes that we are also very interested in as a potential source of inspiration. By highlighting the links between culture and beauty, the Chair gives us the chance to refresh our creative ideas. It also offers us an opportunity to identify and train our future employees. The Chair is an exciting project that fosters a convergence of interests and expertise between the research world that IFM represents and Mane, a company in daily contact with brands.

How did the project come about?

Caroline Ardelet : We met three years ago to talk about subjects that interest us surrounding beauty, femininity, and shifts in society, and we instantly clicked. I had published several articles on cultural stereotypes and the way consumers are unconsciously guided by the norms dictated by their socio-cultural environment. It so happens that I began my career in perfumery before becoming a teacher and researcher, and that Mane is home to various people who used to work at IFM. We quickly decided to launch a teaching and research program together.

What does the program look like?

CA : The Chair is open to diverse audiences, including students at IFM and elsewhere, professionals, researchers, and doctoral candidates. Participation in the program is free. They take part in classes, workshops, and conferences throughout the year, with two highpoints. One is a special day in June when we present our work to professionals, students, and enthusiasts to make our research as accessible as possible. The other is what we call the Imagine challenge, organized in partnership with prestigious universities such as the NYU Stern Business School and Fundação Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. Students who take part run an in-depth research project on a particular socio-cultural group which is under-represented in fashion and the beauty industry. Students meet with people from the group and talk with them, drawing on the literature in psychology, sociology and anthropology to get an understanding of the reasons for their exclusion and propose concrete solutions to close the gap. After they defend their thesis at IFM, a grande finale is held at Mane’s New York office.

In what way is fragrance included in the program?

ML : It’s important to teach participants about the fragrance world and the industry’s value chain to open the door to potential careers they may not necessarily have considered. A special day of encounters is organized every year in our office at Bar-sur-Loup as part of this process. A great many topics are tackled over the year: sourcing, raw materials, legislation, new technologies, neuroscience, trends, the psychology of consumption, and olfactory culture as well as storytelling – an area where IFM has real expertise to bring to the table, and which is increasingly important to the new generation. 

What are your takeaways from the initiative after the first two years? 

CA : Firstly, there are more and more of us involved. We had 25 participants for the first intake two years ago. Now there are over a hundred people from across the world (China, the UK, Brazil, the USA, and France). It’s important to underline that there are very few initiatives of this kind: we produce first-hand data, we meet consumers, we don’t simply repeat what has been said elsewhere. There’s a focus on diversity in the program’s content, but in human terms it’s also an experience that provides an opening onto the world, with students and teachers from a variety of backgrounds all working together. As for the research projects themselves, we have decided to produce a book, to be published shortly, that will give our work even more impact. 

ML : We’re the first to invest in this field, and what we’re seeing is that people are genuinely interested in it. The encounter between actors from the beauty industry and the university world centering on the theme of diversity gives us an excellent opportunity to further our understanding of how fragrance is experienced today, and how it will be tomorrow.