Aesop

Australian botanical sophistication — L'Oréal's $2.53B acquisition

Dennis Paphitis founded Aesop in Melbourne, Australia in 1987 as an apothecary-style skincare brand with a strong design and literary identity. The fragrance line launched much later, with Marrakech Intense (2016) and the acclaimed Hwyl (2017) — a Japanese forest-inspired fragrance built around hinoki cypress — signalling serious olfactory ambition. Aesop is renowned for its minimalist brown bottle aesthetic and its rejection of advertising. Acquired by L'Oréal in 2023 for $2.53 billion, the largest acquisition in L'Oréal's history.