L’Oréal Travel Retail and Dufry have opened the first permanent airport Prada Beauty counter at Milan Malpensa, coinciding with Milan Fashion Week.

The opening marks the first time the new beauty collection will be available in travel retail. 

Situated in Terminal 1, the counter is said to underscore the “power” of Prada as a “multi-axis brand”. Lines stocked at the counter include fragrance, skincare and make-up.

Prada is aiming to offer a “free-thinking, avant-garde” vision of beauty, activated through both creativity and tech. It has two core offerings: Skin and Colour. 

The Skin range, from cleanser through to foundation, offers both instant and over-time care. 

Prada Colour meanwhile is said to rethink self-reinvention as the “new self-expression”. It spans eyes and lips in fashion-curated colours and smart textures. 

The range is built around Prada’s ‘Smart Tech-Xtures’ which offer “hyper flexible, blendable, breathable yet durable” wear. Products include matte lipsticks, replicating hues from the brand’s first ready-to-wear show in 1998. 

An eyeshadow palette is also available, with shades drawn from the Prada achieve of over 27,000 textile and pattern samples. 

Physical pigments are represented using digital colours, with makeup services and trialling on offer. 

Both collections use eco-minded packaging, and a refill mechanism is described as both streamlined and intuitive. 

Prada’s full fragrance range is also available, including Prada Paradoxe, Luna Rossa, Les Infusions and the Olfactories.

Prada Beauty counter: ‘Impactful’ corner

“We are extremely proud to launch Prada Beauty in Dufry as the first store in travel retail worldwide, right on time for the Milano Fashion Show,” said Niels Juhl, L’Oréal Travel Retail Europe, Middle East, Africa, India General Manager.

“This new collection launch in our new impactful corner reasserts our long-term partnership with Dufry and opens new perspectives of Beauty in travel retail.”

Romina Gabarro, Head of Beauty EMEA at Dufry, added: “It is an honour to get the chance to work side by side once again with L’Oréal, this time to launch the beauty collection of such an iconic brand for the first time in travel retail. 

“Milan Fashion Week is the perfect setting, and we  are delighted to be able to showcase this new space as part of our offer for visitors coming from  all over the world.”

Last month, Tao Zhang, Managing Director of L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific spoke to TRBusiness on the beauty giant’s strategy for the region.