A DREAM OF ETERNITY
SINCE 1931
A man and a dream
On the shores of lac Léman Paul Niehans walks with purpose. Under the spell of the eternal mountains that surround him, the silence and serenity that reign amidst these grandiose ranges inspire him. He dreams of the day he will unlock the secret of time.
In the early 1920s, established as a surgeon in Montreux, questions on the life of the living body, the life of the spirit and the question of the soul haunt him. In a few years’ time, he will find the answer. This will be the genesis of cellular therapy.
Stars, science and philosophy come together in a harmony created at the dawn of time. The indomitable will of this incomparable Swiss doctor will do the rest, inspired by nature and stimulated by a rich culture.
Clinique La Prairie: home of cellular therapy
The young doctor comes to realise that cells die much faster than the rest of the organism. He has a brilliant intuition: one must use fresh cells to repair damaged ones – regenerating like with like.
Dr Niehans has a clear vision – to restore vigour and vitality using fresh cells. Every civilisation has dreamt of eternal youth, but no one has ever worked so closely with the active substance. Ever conscious of nature’s beauty and virtues, he is convinced that the key to the preservation of life lies therein. Protecting the natural world becomes a priority for the doctor; he sees it as the very source of eternal youth and beauty.
With promising advancements in his research, the prophesy has become reality: cellular therapy is born. In his bold pursuit, Paul Niehans has transcended a timeless dream: ‘Not only to add years to life, but to add life to years.’
Dr Niehans allots his days to experimenting in his laboratory, endlessly fine-tuning his research on cellular therapy. The injection of fresh cells into an ill or weakened organ sparks the miraculous process of revitalisation and regeneration. The results obtained through cellular therapy are stunning. Over several years, more than five thousand patients will benefit from Dr Niehans’ treatments.
Success is complete, his determination rewarded. He decides to publish and share the results of his research and practice. Several of his works are published, including Introduction to Cellular Therapy, followed by The Cell, Giver of Life. His intellectual pursuit takes flight.
Pivotal Encounters
Clinique La Prairie is a unique and secluded place. Its secret of rejuvenation is well kept. Only a happy few have access to its confidential location.
Yet one event above all others will bestow an aura on the clinic and its doctor – the healing of Pope Pius XII.
In February 1954, Dr Niehans is urgently called to the Vatican – Pius XII’s state is critical. Doctor Niehans will spend eight weeks at Castel Gandolfo, and will return as often as necessary. In 1955, Pius XII – fully regenerated – names Paul Niehans a Member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. From that day on, Paul Niehans moves into the world’s spotlight and his reputation takes on an international dimension.
Subsequently, public figures and celebrities flock to his clinic. It marks the dawn of a new era for the establishment, and worldwide renown. Despite this new-found attention, the strict standards of discretion enjoyed by the guests will remain uncompromised.
Yet it is with artists, authors, musicians and actors that Paul Niehans feels most at ease: Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, Noel Coward and Somerset Maugham, Miles Davis and Igor Stravinsky, Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. Consequently, the clinic becomes the hub of an artistic effervescence that Doctor Niehans particularly enjoys.
Foremost among these guests are heads of state and royalty. They come to Montreux to rest and rejuvenate.
Present
Cellular therapy meets skincare
Upon his death in 1971, Dr Niehans bequeaths to his successors at Clinique La Prairie a treasure trove of unique medical and rejuvenation knowledge. One of his last developments is a topical cream offered to guests upon their departure from the clinic.
A complete skincare regimen quickly follows in 1978. The craft of skincare formulation emerges as a new vocation, and the skincare House of La Prairie is born.
The new formulas include stabilised fresh cells. They are directly inspired by Dr Niehans’ work on cellular therapy and created thanks to the clinic’s decades-long experience. They represent a breakthrough in skincare, a direct legacy from the clinic’s expertise in cellular therapy. The proprietary cellular extract used in these early creations of the House is the first generation of La Prairie’s Exclusive Cellular Complex, the House’s unique science signature.
Unchanged since 1978, the question is then raised a few years later: can La Prairie’s cellular extract be improved further? The scientists set to work, exploring new bioengineering innovations that will allow the House to develop a cellular extract that pays tribute to its origins in cellular therapy while respecting nature. They succeed in creating a bioengineered cellular extract. Renamed ‘Exclusive Cellular Complex’, the cellular extract becomes the new guardian of the skin.
Skin caviar: from science to art
Determined to maintain the momentum of the scientific trajectory of La Prairie and stay true to the spirit of the House’s founding figure, Dr Paul Niehans, the House encourages audacious innovation. Taking their cue from Dr Niehans’ audacity, the scientists at La Prairie question what other riches the source of life might contain. Their attention naturally turns to that other nucleus of life, the egg. Caviar is considered the height of sophistication. The link between life-giving potency and refinement is intriguing. With time, the researchers’ intuition will be rewarded: replete with the richest nutrients, caviar proves to be beneficial to the skin. When the House of La Prairie launches the Skin Caviar Collection in 1987, a new breakthrough in the world of skincare emerges.
While the science team pursues their exciting discovery, the House of La Prairie explores the art world, seeking inspiration. It is an encounter with the artist Niki de Saint Phalle that will leave an indelible mark on the House.
In 1982, she creates a fragrance in her name. The design studio she works with happens to share its office space with La Prairie. For the artist, the emblematic cobalt blue used in her work symbolises femininity, boldness, strength and serenity – the very same attributes as those of the future Skin Caviar Collection. From that moment, La Prairie embraces the power and elegance of a distinctive shade of blue. It creates a bridge between the pursuit of the artist and that of the House. Niki de Saint Phalle becomes a key figure for the collection by bringing this singular colour to the House of La Prairie. Cobalt blue will for evermore be the emblem of the art and science of La Prairie.
Crafting icons: from Switzerland to the world
With Skin Caviar, the House of La Prairie ignites a revolution in the world of skincare. It is a masterstroke, combining nature, science and art.
Then, nearly twenty years after the outstanding success of Skin Caviar, the scientists at La Prairie turn to other natural sources of inspiration.
Immutable gold and rare platinum – nature provides the House with the precious metals to enhance the rejuvenating powers of the Exclusive Cellular Complex. La Prairie first launches The Radiance Collection in 2006 – reimagined as the Pure Gold Collection in 2020 – and shortly thereafter, Platinum Rare Cellular Cream.
The painstaking research that follows scientific breakthroughs, formulas engineered to provide elaborate sensorial experiences, vessels worthy of the most precious elixirs – the House of La Prairie conceives its creations through the lens of beauty.
Inspired by nature, mastered by science and elevated by culture, La Prairie develops the most complex savoir-faire driven by a spirit of innovation and the pursuit of timeless beauty. The House’s creations live on as timeless icons sent out from Switzerland into the world. Dr Niehans’ legacy is perpetuated.
The collections of the house
La Prairie’s collections are conceived to reflect its story – from its heritage to its place in the present and into the future, from Switzerland to the world.
-
Skin Caviar
Swiss waters provide the life source at the heart of La Prairie's Caviar Science, bringing its lifting and firming potency to the skin. The Skin Caviar Collection, infused with Swiss caviar ingredients, enriches time with life.
-
White Caviar
To seize light is to seize time. The singular light reflecting off the shimmering surface of lac Léman in Montreux where the House has its origins is the same extraordinary light that La Prairie seizes and brings to the skin with the White Caviar Collection.
-
Pure Gold
The warm glow that falls over the Swiss Alps as the sun reaches the most graceful point in its arc across the landscape is the inspiration at the heart of the Pure Gold Collection. La Prairie captures that glow with the Pure Gold Diffusion System, infusing skin with the grace of the golden hour.
-
Platinum Rare
The peaks of Switzerland that push earthly boundaries to reach for the stars above inspired the House of La Prairie to look to the cosmos. The Science of Haute-Rejuvenation is the culmination of this query, reversing time's effect on the youthful appearance of the face. With the Platinum Rare Collection, time is suspended.
The painstaking research that follows scientific breakthroughs, formulas engineered to provide elaborate sensorial experiences, vessels worthy of the most precious elixirs – the House of La Prairie conceives its creations through the lens of beauty.
Future
Perpetuating the legacy
Those Swiss waters that nourished Doctor Niehans’ body and lifted his spirits in his youth provide the life source at the heart of La Prairie’s Caviar Science of the Skin Caviar Collection. The peaks he ascended as a young man, pushing the boundaries of his own limits to reach for the stars above, are the same eternal peaks that inspired the House to look to the cosmos – where time is suspended – and its gift of platinum, infused in the Platinum Rare Haute-Rejuvenation Collection. The singular light reflecting off the shimmering surface of lac Léman that Doctor Niehans contemplated from the windows of his study is the same extraordinary light that La Prairie’s scientists seize and bring to the skin with their Science of Light, the scientific basis for the White Caviar Collection. The warm glow of the setting sun on the mountains observed by Doctor Niehans from the clinic terrace inspired La Prairie to capture the effect with the Pure Gold Diffusion System, exclusive to La Prairie’s Pure Gold Collection.
In pursuing the philosophy of its founder, La Prairie recognises that an open mind, a spirit that welcomes the emotional, the transcendental, is one that is truly free to explore. The House has thus decided to engage with the foremost thinkers in the worlds of science and art. Culture elevates us all, allowing us to push open the doors of creativity.
The artistic influences that infuse the House are all linked by singular threads: audacity, aesthetics and the purpose of time. La Prairie imbues that philosophy into everything it does. Audacious design aesthetics conceived in the spirit of Bauhaus and Minimalism; the oasis of serenity and refinement of the boutiques and Art of Beauty spaces where time stands still: they form the tangible bridge between the House’s esteemed past and its thoroughly contemporary pursuit.
Promoting art, preserving nature, empowering people.
Throughout its existence, the House of La Prairie has taken inspiration from nature and art to nurture its scientific researches and elevate the universal experience.
Today, La Prairie continues to remain faithful to its origins and creates new connections with the art world and its various representatives, be they art fairs, cultural institutions, established artists or emerging talents.
The House elevates and enlightens the world in which we live by sharing art – by sharing beauty. Pursuing its empowering ethos that was seeded more than 90 years ago, La Prairie aims to make an impact on those who enter its world.
Yet for the House of La Prairie, beauty is not only aesthetic; it includes nature and consequently the importance of preserving it. In 2021, a long-term partnership with the Department of Glaciology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) was signed to help protect the natural beauty not only of La Prairie's local environment, but also beyond Switzerland’s borders, preserving its resources for generations to come – from Switzerland to the world.
Nature is a source of inspiration for art. Art elevates people. People are at the service of beauty. For La Prairie, the bond is sealed.
Hold time in your hands
Born of magnificent Swiss landscapes as ancient as the world itself. Driven by a scientific quest to shape the hours of life’s tempo. Elevated by a deep-seeded aesthetic culture that transcends the ages. Nourished by a singular, feminine vision of enduring beauty. La Prairie has made time – with its intricacies, its mysteries, its treasures – the pursuit of the House. From the pristine shores of lac Léman, from the artistic effervescence of Montreux, from Clinique La Prairie, a haven of rejuvenation: the dream of founder Dr Paul Niehans takes flight.
Driven by 90 years of Swiss cellular science that culminates in the Exclusive Cellular Complex. Enhanced by precious ingredients – Swiss caviar, eternal platinum, radiant gold. Inspired by traditions of craftsmanship and a thoroughly modern aesthetic. Propelled forward by inherent precision, uncompromising excellence, a pioneering spirit. Expressed through a desire to preserve the nature of the land of its origins.
Skincare creations that fuse the past, present and future contained in exquisite vessels, infused with a Swiss vision of beauty.
This pursuit – this purpose – moves us forward to break time’s constraints, to breathe new life into time’s course, to conspire with it, to master it. La Prairie recasts a woman’s intricate bond with time, empowering her to hold it in her hands.
A reimagined identity
The logo is the reflection of La Prairie’s soul.
It embraces the values, the story, the heritage of the House to the world. It speaks for the brand and represents who we are, and who we will be tomorrow. It speaks to our House’s evolution.
Our logo is inspired by our first visual expression from the Clinique La Prairie of the 1930s: an elegant logo in streamlined capitals. The signage at the door of the clinic was designed using an original typography inspired by the Art Deco movement that was the leading aesthetic of the time. In fact, in Montreux, some of these iconic Art Deco signages still exist today. They bear witness to an avant-garde period of artistic effervescence.
In the 1970s, our La Prairie logo was designed using a typography called Helvetica. Today, Helvetica is known as Helvetica Neue, and it is more than simply a font. Created in 1960 in Zürich by typeface designer Max Miedinger, the font is a symbol of cutting-edge Swiss design, a masterpiece to which museums dedicate exhibitions all around the world.
La Prairie has chosen to not only maintain our Swiss heritage but to celebrate it, taking inspiration from Helvetica Neue and evolving it with a contemporary reimagination. The letters of our original logo have shifted from lower case to all capitals, giving it more status and desirability. The design is sharper, more architectural, easier to read. It is aligned with the world in which we live.
