Founded by Monica Kylen and Mats Johansson in Varberg, a spa resort on the West coast of Sweden, near Göteborg, L:A Bruket was born from a Swedish spa heritage perfectly in line with wild nature and its ingredients. Over a hundred face, body, hair, and home references have already made the brand successful in Sweden and beyond, in Scandinavia, a market keen on innovative and clean concepts. “Our philosophy is based on nature-inspired innovation, featuring ingredients mainly derived from Sweden, and a 100% Swedish production,” explains Stanislas Le Bert.
To highlight the stability of this ten-year-old approach, the brand’s products are about to get a Cosmos certificate. “It is not a direction we are taking out of the blue. We had the basics, and as a matter of fact, most of our formulas created more than ten years ago do not need to be reviewed. The idea is rather to keep up with a market practice with an interesting tool that guides and informs consumers,” adds the Director.
Already distributed in over 500 points of sale across the world, including Liberty in London, Takashimaya and Isetan in Japan, Galleria in Seoul, The Conran Shop, Galeries Lafayette, Champs-Elysées, BHV Marais in France, and Goop, Gwyneth Paltrow’s platform in the US, L:A Bruket aims to develop their partner network, in particular in Europe and Asia. “We are selecting rather than prospecting, just to make sure our brand is where it should be, with the service quality, support, and feedback matching our concept,” explains Stanislas Le Bert.
In parallel, the brand is developing its network of wholly-owned stores with two recent openings in Paris, Rue Vielle du Temple and Rue Saint Sulpice, as well as in Berlin. “Now, we have two stores in Sweden, two in Paris, one in Berlin, and one in Tokyo. For us, it is an opportunity to meet customers and understand the brand’s current situation. With these stores, we are going to create positive emotions and make the ephemeral long-lasting in order to, we hope, make these shopping moments stand out. It is the orientation we gave our retail assets and the architectural concept we developed,” adds the Director, who is also reviewing opportunities in London and Korea.
A new strategic impetus
It is also an opportunity for the brand to test a new strategy aimed to put forward authentic naturalness before exporting it to Asia and the US. “Our ten years of existence provide us with a heritage with multiple possibilities and many angles from which to work. Today, we would like to further highlight our brand’s clean facet, and the Cosmos certification is part of this strategy. Other innovations in the same vein will follow. In our catalogue, we already have ‘refill’ references, like candles, body and face care products, and we will keep developing this ecoresponsible approach. These are excellent opportunities to innovate and make Mats and Monica’s ten-year philosophy clearer.”
The other development areas of this strategy are focused on innovation and e-commerce.
“Meaningful product consumption will keep developing. That is the way we see what is next, and we are confident consumer behaviour will gradually change in this direction,” concludes the General Manager.
