Recent 5,000-person studies revealed that eighty per cent of both women and men aged 18-80 accepted their age while aiming to look younger.
At present, everyone can become their own skin care expert thanks to YouTube dermatologists and Reddit threads containing scientific knowledge. Now LVMH-owned Dior has announced an investment in longevity research with the intent of adding beauty to ageing; we spoke with Virginie Bavouzet regarding this new path forward.
Aging Hallmarks
One of the most significant developments over recent years has been a fresh perspective on aging. A group of researchers developed a list of nine cellular hallmarks which correlate with chronological age and can be decelerated, stopped, or reversed with therapeutic interventions; see figure below for details.
This approach to anti-aging targets processes that are directly tied to aging and can be addressed with treatments such as NAD+ boosters, senolytics and caloric restriction. The key challenge now is unravelling their interconnection and finding specific drugs which can enhance human health with minimal side effects.
Focusing only on a limited set of hallmarks could impede progress as this limits progress by leaving out many processes relevant to aging and potentially targetable by longevity therapies. For example, epigenetic changes that occur with ageing cells are not all primary hallmarks – some represent genuine irreversible damage (epimutations), while others may act as compensatory mechanisms against age-related damage. Telomere shortening in cells that divide is certainly one hallmark, yet longer-lived nondividing cells such as neurons or the immune system suffer more direct forms of damage which might not be captured by this or any existing hallmark.
Critics have raised similar complaints against the “loss of proteostasis” Hallmark: it doesn’t specify any type of damage an aging cell may be suffering from or that can be addressed using any available interventions. Again, SENS Research Foundation has previously supported work aimed at clarifying these kinds of issues so we may better understand what constitutes genuine age-related changes and which strategies might address them effectively.
Parfums Christian Dior has decided to establish a Scientific Advisory Board in order to accelerate research into these key cellular aging hallmarks. It features 12 experts in fundamental science (one expert per hallmark), three specialists from skin science who collaborate on product development for anti-ageing purposes, two specialists from ethnobotany and floral science who can shed light on potential flowers’ Reverse Aging impact through phytocompounds as well as one in aging psychology who analyzes perception of time through social lens.
The Collective Intelligence Approach
As our world is beset by monumental challenges such as climate change, political polarization and global health crises, human groups are becoming ever-more dependent on collective intelligence to navigate through them. Collective intelligence refers to the accumulation of cognitive and social skills within a group in order to produce more informed, innovative, comprehensive solutions to complex problems; furthermore it leverages all talents within an organization for maximum effectiveness.
Communication and collaboration are at the core of collective intelligence. Fostering mutually beneficial interactions allows for the free flow of ideas that lead to breakthroughs; such interactions may include brainstorming sessions, ideation workshops, strategic planning meetings or virtual teamwork using tools such as videoconferencing.
One of the key obstacles to collective intelligence is people’s tendency to interpret information based on personal experience and bias. Collective intelligence requires shared understanding and consensus, so overcoming biases and blind spots is difficult. Recent research has explored using artificial intelligence models instead of humans for evaluating group intelligence as this type of evaluation provides more objective assessments.
Collective intelligence faces another major hurdle: effective coordination and leadership. Without this essential ingredient, efforts of a group may become duplicated and incoherent, while all members should have equal opportunity to contribute conversations and make decisions. Therefore, communication systems that enable members to coordinate interactions within one virtual universe of knowledge may be required for optimal collective intelligence efforts.
Success of any collective intelligence initiative ultimately depends on the quality and effectiveness of interactions and leadership. A leader needs to foster an environment that encourages open and honest dialogue while providing framework for solving complex problems. Furthermore, an ideal leader would foster an environment conducive to sharing expertise among team members while simultaneously leveraging individual expertise effectively.
The Scientific Advisory Board
As part of LVMH Research’s legacy to Dior’s founding founder, science forms an essential cornerstone of its ecosystem. That’s why Dior-backed company LVMH Research takes great care to form strong partnerships with some of the finest and most acclaimed research organisations around the globe – such as CiRA and CNRS in Italy or Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston – such as Virginie Couturaud as Scientific Communication Director is dedicated to sharing results of research conducted behind our skincare products with customers in a way that assures them of our dedication.
Next week in Paris will see the launch of the first International Reverse Aging Scientific Advisory Board with 18 experts in various fields to accelerate this scientific revolution and spur products that help us slow or even reverse aging.
Age Reversal research is pioneered by Professor Shinya Yamanaka and represents a new frontier for beauty industry innovation. Based around the concept that we can slow or even reverse signs of aging, its acceptance by scientific community was welcomed with open arms; Parfums Christian Dior’s efforts are now making this field accessible to skin care products as part of its skincare offerings.
So the house has invested in research to combat signs of biological aging such as stem cell exhaustion or genome instability through skincare products that target these biological hallmarks of aging, according to Virginie Couturaud. While chronological aging cannot be avoided, lifestyle factors can influence biological ageing significantly – thus encouraging slower aging.
As longevity becomes an increasing focus of life and our industry adapts, this type of targeting may become increasingly common – and with Bernard Arnault as one of the world’s richest men recently earning himself the moniker “King of M&A”, it looks set to stay.
The Future
Reversing aging has long held our attention, from early 20th-century futurism movements through to anti-ageing trends today. Both academic and creative productions have widely explored this concept of delaying aging.
Beauty brands have capitalized on this desire by marketing products designed to reduce signs of aging and appear younger. Dior noted that skin was the first area where signs of aging appeared visibly, prompting industry investment in this field.
But this is no ordinary anti-aging marketing ploy – the French fashion house is taking an extremely serious approach to geroscience with a dedicated research team and scientific advisory board led by Bruno Bavouzet, Executive Vice President of Research & Development for its Beauty division at LVMH. Their collective intelligence approach will use knowledge gained by experts such as these to improve mechanisms that slow or reverse signs of aging.
Vadim Gladyshev, professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. For years now, Gladyshev has been conducting groundbreaking regenerative medicine research, specifically looking at deciphering the aging process through sequence analysis of genomic, transcriptome, and metabolome sequences from long-living animals such as naked mole rats to understand what makes them so hardy.
Research could lead to innovative skincare products with visible benefits for all age groups, while their wider implications extend far beyond simply countering aging symptoms and making our lifespans longer while creating positive change on Earth.
