Every October the Palais des Festivals in Cannes swaps film stars for fragrance bottles and serums. The TFWA World Exhibition & Conference, organised by the Tax Free World Association, is the big annual meeting of the travel retail and duty-free world, and this year Vanity Fair Italia used it to sit down with one of Europe’s most quietly impressive beauty founders: Dr Irena Eris.
From a small lab in communist Poland to a luxury name
Irena Eris trained as a pharmacist and, in 1983, started a cosmetics company near Warsaw together with her husband, Henryk Orfinger. She told Vanity Fair Italia that Poland was still a communist country when she began, and that her aim was simple: to give women good cosmetics they could not otherwise afford. More than four decades later the brand says it employs around 1,000 people, makes about 25 million products a year and sells in more than 60 countries.
What sets the company apart, in her view, is that the research happens in-house. Dr Irena Eris runs its own Scientific Research Centre, and the founder describes modern cosmetics as the result of highly advanced science rather than clever packaging. That reputation earned a rare honour: in 2012 the brand joined the Comité Colbert, the Paris-based association of French luxury houses founded in 1954 by Jean-Jacques Guerlain, whose members include Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton. According to the Comité Colbert itself, Dr Irena Eris is still its only Polish member.
A new line, and a gentle idea of beauty
The launch shown in Cannes is Institute Solutions Peptosome Filler, a range inspired by salon treatments. Rather than freezing the face, it aims to soften expression lines while keeping skin looking firm and bright, using peptides, GABA, spilanthol and a red algae complex. The hero product is the Youth Power Activating Serum, joined by a day cream with SPF 20, a night cream and a treatment for the eye and lip area. The brand reports encouraging results from its own four-week tests, though, as with any brand study, those figures come from the company rather than independent trials.
The business also runs luxury spa hotels in Poland, and the founder’s own definition of beauty is refreshingly modest. For her, she said, beauty simply means being well rested.
It is a philosophy that translates neatly to jewellery: fewer, better pieces chosen to make you feel good. A soft glow from moonstone rings, delicate rose quartz earrings or an opal pendant suits that relaxed, cared-for look, and our jewellery sets take the guesswork out of matching.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia (Ilaria Perrotta, 17 October 2026); Comité Colbert member profile of Dr Irena Eris; Dr Irena Eris, “Dr Irena Eris in Comité Colbert”; Piaseczno municipality, history of Dr Irena Eris. Featured photo: Alesia Kozik via Pexels.
