What Kering and L’Oréal’s wellness alliance says about luxury’s future

Two decades ago, luxury houses discovered that loyalty came from sharing their clients’ passions. They began investing in art, culture, and sustainability — signals that they understood the values of their most discerning consumers. Patronage became strategy — a major exhibition or a groundbreaking sustainability initiative could carry as much weight as a runway show in engaging clients. Today, those priorities have shifted again. The most coveted possession isn’t a handbag or a piece of couture — it’s health. With the cost of ultra-luxury handbags now exceeding $10,000, roughly equal to a long weekend at some of the world’s leading wellness destinations, more consumers are prioritizing wellness retreats over products. Wellness has moved from personal pursuit to social marker, from private ritual to public identity. For the global luxury consumer, vitality and longevity are now the ultimate luxuries. Wellness alliance The corporate world is starting to formalize that shift. The recent L’Oréal-Kering announcement, headlined “Kering and L’Oréal Forge an Alliance in Beauty and Wellness,” outlined plans for a 50/50 joint venture. “Beyond beauty, Kering and L’Oréal are joining forces to explore business opportunities at the intersection of luxury, wellness, and longevity,” the announcement reads. Their 50/50 joint venture will combine L’Oréal’s innovation capabilities and Kering’s understanding of luxury clients to “craft cutting-edge experiences and services.” The “beyond beauty” phrasing was deliberate. While most coverage centered on Kering’s debt strategy and L’Oréal’s expanding presence in luxury beauty, those two words hinted at a deeper ambition — to redefine beauty as a system of care, not just a category of products. Soon after, Lanserhof, an integrative health pioneer, announced on October 22 a 95 million euros ($110 million) investment from AltamarCAM Partners and King Street Capital. Individual investor Manuel Puig (not representing Puig) also joined the consortium. The deal marks a shift from family enterprise to institutional platform, while financing Lanserhof’s global expansion and demonstrating how longevity has become a scalable luxury asset. Real estate meets beauty Laurent Ohana, senior advisor at investment bank Ohana & Co, takes a pragmatic view of these moves. The Lanserhof investments, he says, is primarily “a real-estate investment, not a corporate beauty deal. What is intriguing is how Puig will leverage this investment to enhance the value of its beauty empire – the opportunities are many.” Both transactions are presented as wellness and longevity deals because, he says, “wellness” is so broadly defined, and encompasses so many categories — ingestibles, topicals, testing, and resorts — all with very different business models. Ohana says that beauty conglomerates like L’Oréal are built on supply-chain mastery and proven product efficacy — a far cry from the asset-heavy, service-based economics of longevity resorts. “The clinical proof for wellness isn’t a doctor’s white paper,” he says. “It’s found in places like Lanserhof, SHA, or Clinique La Prairie. Those locations generate credibility for the programs and products that come after.” Surface to system While Ohana frames wellness through the lens of capital and credibility, others see it as part of a cultural evolution — one that is redefining luxury’s purpose. These moves signal a turning point in how luxury defines value. Christine Dagousset, former Global President of Fragrances and Beauty at Chanel and now an operating partner for Advent International and independent CEO advisor, describes it as a shift “from the surface to the system — from superficiality to long-term well-being and vitality.” “Instead of only selling products,” she says, “brands are now creating enduring ecosystems that foster emotional loyalty and ongoing engagement.” In her view, beauty has expanded beyond aesthetics to encompass physical and mental health — a shift that ties luxury’s emotional power to scientific credibility. “The power of emotion must be married with real innovation,” she adds. “Luxury brands have always created desire through sensory experience, and that remains vital even in health-centered products.” The new aspiration This evolution is reflected in the client behavior. Lupe Puerta, Founder and CEO of The Floorr, says: “From my experience working closely with HNW and UHNW clients, there’s definitely a shift happening. People are rethinking what luxury means, and health and wellness have become a big part of that. Clients are spending less on excess and more on how they feel, how they live, and how they age.” Puerta notes that the pace and pattern of luxury consumption are changing: “Wellness used to be a perk and now is more of a mindset. Working from home has also played a big role. It’s given people the freedom to curate their day around wellness — to prioritize workouts, treatments, or simply rest — in a way that used to be impossible with back-to-back travel and meetings. Balance has become aspirational.” Her company’s network of personal shoppers reflects the same trend. “We’re seeing so much more focus on prevention now, not just fixing things when they go wrong,” she says. “That mindset is spilling into every part of the luxury world. Many of the personal shoppers on The Floorr are expanding what they do beyond fashion, helping clients with experiences that support balance and well-being.” Personalized well-being Dr. Christian Kurtzke, Group CEO of The Together Group, reads this broader shift through the lens of brand architecture. “We don’t see wellness as just another luxury sector,” he says. “It’s becoming a new core value proposition within experiential luxury.” For Kurtzke, wellness isn’t simply an amenity — it’s a system of relationships. “Delivering highly personalized well-being experiences will mean rethinking the entire supply and service chain.” Together, these perspectives converge on a single truth: the future of luxury lies in transformation, not transaction. The new aspiration isn’t to own more, but to feel more alive — and to sustain that vitality over time. Transformation economics “A seismic shift will transpire as we transition from product-centric, material luxury to experiential, transformational luxury,” notes Dr. Kurtzke. Human creativity, craft excellence, and culture remain relevant, but new technologies and personalized wellness environments are gaining importance. The shift puts “the individual consumer or guest and their personal needs, desires, and aspirations, rather than the product and its transaction, at the center,” he says. “This presents a tremendous opportunity to redirect luxury from abundance to meaning — from accumulation to impact. It's a return to the roots of luxury.” Across these perspectives, a new equation is emerging: wellness and longevity are no longer adjacent to luxury, but central to its next phase of growth. As the world’s largest luxury and beauty groups recognize that their most valuable consumers are now investing as seriously in living longer and better as they once did in fashion and art, the challenge ahead is how existing portfolios — built on product sales and brand desire — can evolve to meet these new priorities. For companies long defined by physical consumption, growth will increasingly come from experiential wellness consumption: places, programs, products, and services that deliver measurable impact on well-being. The luxury industry’s next chapter will be defined not by what people buy, but by how they choose to live.

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What Kering and L’Oréal’s wellness alliance says about luxury’s future