The talent of choosing the right people: you can be an entrepreneur and a poet

Il salone della casa di Parigi in un’altra foto tratta dal libro citato sopra. Il volume racconta, per la prima volta, gli spazi intimi creati da Isabelle per la sua famiglia e l’head quarter di Sisley, fondato con il marito, sempre a Parigi.

But to start with, a little background.

President and CEO of Sisley Paris since 2013, he is descended from a noble family with a long history in the cosmetics industry: his grandparents had already founded a skincare company in the 1930s.

In 1953, his father Hubert and his uncle Michel created the Orlane brand (which they later sold), and in 1976 Count Hubert and his wife Isabelle went out on their own and launched Sisley, following a revolutionary intuition for the time, phytotherapy.

Today, in addition to the children of the two founders, Philippe and Christine, the granddaughter Daria Botin also works in the company.

Having studied economics, gained extensive experience abroad, Philippe has the casual affability of the aristocrat of yesteryear and the proactive frankness of the contemporary entrepreneur. He seems to have all the time in the world for this interview and full attention, even if it comes at the end of a long day's work.

"My father's idea was to use advanced plant extracts using state-of-the-art technology. The issue is quite complex, because within a single plant you can identify between 100,000 and 200,000 different active ingredients. For us, nature is a kind of natural chemical factory, from which we extract, through research, the most interesting resources'.

Despite the expansion of turnover (over a billion dollars) and markets, Sisley remains a family-run and family-oriented company, d'Ornano is co-president of the Meti, the movement that represents medium-sized companies in France, and emphasises with amiable firmness that 'the projects are followed by us, who are the owners and are directly involved in the creation.

That is why we can afford not to start from what the market demands, but from the product. We do not set ourselves time limits or price limits. This does not mean that we want to be expensive, but that the economic factor cannot influence or condition research, limiting its development'.

That the brand places itself at the top end of the cosmetics market, from skincare to make-up to perfumery, is a reality, but d'Ornano introduces a polite clarification: 'I would like to make it clear that we do not consider ourselves a luxury brand.

He explains this with a blunt statement: 'When we talk to customers in Asia, in the US, in Europe, they tell us: "Ah Sisley, excellent products! Expensive eh, but excellent'. Well, it is at the moment when they say that "but excellent" that I feel we are doing what we really want to do: offering the most sophisticated, the most effective, the most advanced, and perhaps even more expensive than average solutions, but which offer extraordinary results. For many, Sisley works.

And that is our goal. As long as we achieve it, it means we are building a solid house.

Thus were established, over the years, the firsts that D'Ornano enumerates as a fact, without emphasis: 'We don't like to make claims we can't prove! We developed the first global anti-ageing cream, Sisleÿa. We were the first to introduce the treatment function in sunscreen products in the early 1990s, the first to take a serious interest in the concept of year-round daily protection with All Day All Year, the first to talk about epigenetics, the first to propose a high-end haircare brand whose success is tangible.

And we are proud of the momentum in research with the new NEUR|AÉ brand, for which Italia is one of our best countries, together with the United States. Working on silent cellular ageing, when wrinkles are not yet visible but the loss of skin radiance begins, is the new frontier' (and this is where the latest launch, in order of time, comes in: the Concentré à la Rose Noire Sérum Éclat Jeunesse, ndr).

Phillippe d’Ornano con José Ginestar, direttore scientifico del brand, in uno dei laboratori dell’azienda, a Saint-Ouen-l’Aumone.

A man who is passionate about science, but also a voracious reader of science fiction, when I ask him what the most important discovery in the cosmetics field is, he has no doubts: 'The connection between skin and brain. This is a real revolution: the impact of neuroscience on our work is very promising and it is only just beginning'.

Il salotto della Maison a Milano, in via Manzoni 11, con gli arredi scelti da Isabelle d’Ornano.

But back to family and business, which are daily, as well as historically, intertwined. "I was 12 years old the first time I had my say on a product. My parents were working on a new perfume, it had a hint of melon that I loved. They said I loved it so much only because I was a child, but when you think how popular gourmand notes have become 20 years later...!" He smiles at the idea of having been a little forerunner.

How difficult is it to run a family business today and how much can it be a driver or a brake on growth? "You Italians know very well the value of family businesses, because you have extraordinary ones. We are in our fourth generation, a hundred years of experience, and we are lucky to be close-knit and get along well. Many groups, when they reach our size, prefer to acquire other companies. I am not saying we will never do that, but we like to create. We have 100 per cent ownership and are able to finance development.

In a highly competitive market, with multinational giants as competitors, organisation counts in addition to positioning. "I think we can continue to grow, but it all depends on quality. Which in turn depends on ideas, that is, creativity and business sense'.

Il nuovo siero Concentré à la Rose Noire, che agisce su quattro parametri - compattezza, texture, vitalità e luminosità - per contrastare la senescenza cellulare su pelli ancora giovani (230 €, 30 ml).

We are returning to the starting point: the priorities of his role as CEO and chairman. In a twenty-four hour day - taking away time for sleep, food, self-care, space for affection, sports ("a fundamental component of my life"), reading ("poetry, novels, essays: I read at least 50, 60 books a year") - how do you divide your professional hours? D'Ornano made it clear right away that numbers come third. In second place is commitment and direct involvement with the product.

And the former? "With the current size of the company my work focuses mainly on people. Looking for the best talents, getting them to interact in the right way, creating a team spirit to encourage quick decision-making. It's a bit like being a coach and managing a team. Interesting, but not always easy, since it is not about performance, but about human relations.

I have personally recruited many of our beauty consultants, crucial figures for the brand. It always excites me to visit our branches: to see teams of all nationalities working together to develop a common project. Then, let's face it, I am a man in charge, but clearly in the minority!

80 per cent of the people working at Sisley are women and I work, side by side, with my sister Christine, my mother and my niece'. If numbers count for anything, the game is played three to one.

NATURAL BEAUTY SISLEY PARIS, sisley-paris.com. Readings 'Bêtes de compagnie' and 'Trajectoires Inverses' by Philippe d'Ornano, €40 and €47 respectively, at editionsdelacroixduloup.com.