Lush bids farewell to plastic packaging with first ‘naked shop’ worldwide in Milan

British cosmetics retailer Lush has chosen one of the world’s fashion capitals, Milan, to launch a new sustainable initiative: from 1 June, Lush’s Milan flagship, a 100-square-metre store on two levels at Via Torino 42, will sell the brand’s fresh handmade cosmetics with no plastic packaging, challenging the cosmetics industry to go ‘naked’ and plastic-free. 

The initiative confirms Lush’s green vocation, as the cosmetics retailer aims to reduce the environmental impact of the products it sells, offering effective alternatives to the ubiquitous plastic packaging. At a time when plastic waste pollution is a growing problem – according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, at this rate the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by 2050 – Lush is giving a major contribution based on creativity, research and innovation.

Lush is celebrating this year the 20th anniversary of its launch in Italy, and with this initiative it seeks to make its store a place to share and exchange ideas in an effort to shift towards a plastic-free future. In the coming months, Lush’s Milan store will host a series of conferences, round-table talks, workshops and film screenings focusing on the seas’ environmental preservation and protection, the hope for zero-waste living and the alternatives to disposable plastics.
 
“We are proud and delighted to learn that Italian consumers are increasingly shunning the use of plastics, and we couldn’t be happier for being able to provide them with the products they need,” said Mark Costantine, co-founder of Lush. 
 
In the Milan store, Lush will introduce one of its latest novelties, the Turtle Jelly Bomb, the new bath product symbolising Lush’s latest global advertising campaign, which will launch on 8th June, World Oceans Day.
 
Lush was founded in the UK in 1995, and in 1998 it landed in Italy, where it is present today with 32 stores and an e-tail site. The cosmetics retailer sells in nearly 50 countries via over 900 monobrand stores, and its latest financial year recorded strong sales growth, with a revenue of £743 million (€852 million).