In an era where luxury retail is increasingly defined by experience over object, Lancôme’s robotic rose-picking installation marks a symbolic convergence of automation, affect, and aesthetic performance. The pink rose—iconic to the brand's identity—is no longer just a visual motif or a fragrance note; it becomes an interactive element that is harvested by robotic arms in a poetic performance of precision and personalization. This paper explores how this technologically enhanced installation becomes a sensory stage for brand storytelling, redefines human-machine intimacy, and opens up possibilities for performative retail design.

Lancôme’s installation, featuring two robotic arms plucking artificial pink roses from a stylized mechanical garden, evokes more than technical prowess. It performs emotion, delicacy, and ritual—traditionally the territory of human gestures. These robots do not merely "function"; they enact a carefully choreographed ballet, transforming an industrial symbol into an aesthetic agent. This is where luxury diverges from utility: while the arms could be used to assemble car parts, here they assemble desire.

By anthropomorphizing the robots—positioning them as ‘rose-pickers’—Lancôme creates a metaphor for precision in beauty, craftsmanship in cosmetics, and gentleness in the consumer journey. The viewer does not merely observe the scene but feels a sense of suspended wonder at how emotion is simulated through automation.

The installation is built upon Lancôme’s long-standing emblem: the pink rose. Symbolizing femininity, elegance, and timeless French beauty, the rose is more than just a flower—it is a semiotic device that anchors the brand's heritage. In this installation, however, the rose evolves into an interactive interface.

Customers are invited to “cueillez votre rose” (“pick your rose”)—bridging the passive act of product admiration with the active participation of the consumer. The physical act of receiving a rose from a robot becomes symbolic of receiving the brand’s promise—delicately engineered, beautifully packaged, and emotionally charged.

This multisensory approach (visual softness, mechanical soundscape, potential olfactory cues) positions the rose not just as a motif but as an immersive tool of memory-making and desire. It shifts beauty retail from transaction to transformation.

The robotic installation acts as a performative theater, borrowing codes from both high fashion shows and art installations. Set against a glossy pink-tiled backdrop with spotlighting, the display becomes a stage upon which robotics become actors and roses become props in a sensory narrative.

This kind of experiential design contributes to a growing trend where “flagship” no longer just means “store”—it means gallery, stage, and sanctuary. Brands like Lancôme recognize that in a post-digital consumer culture, value is generated through affective resonance. The ritual of choosing a rose is not meant to be efficient—it’s meant to be memorable.

The entire space thus aligns with what Pine and Gilmore call the “experience economy,” where staged environments engage the consumer emotionally and sensorially. The installation is a live performance of the brand’s values: innovation, intimacy, and identity.

Technological empathy and human-machine collaboration

Rather than presenting technology as cold or clinical, Lancôme embeds it within a soft emotional frame. The robotic arms don’t replace humans—they partner with them to enhance interaction. It’s an aestheticized form of human-machine empathy, where the labor of beauty is shared.

This raises important philosophical questions about the future of affective labor. Can a robot deliver emotion? Can automation be poetic? This installation suggests yes, not because the robot “feels,” but because the design choreography simulates feeling so precisely that it resonates with the viewer.

Importantly, the setup avoids dystopian connotations of AI replacing humanity. Instead, it reflects a hybrid future where technology and emotion coexist in a refined choreography—a metaphor for post-anthropocentric luxury.

In a world saturated by images and stimuli, precision is a luxury. The robot’s exact, repeatable gesture mimics the brand’s promise of scientific excellence and consistent quality in its skincare and fragrance lines. The rose-picking becomes a metaphor for the clinical beauty of control—the promise that each product is engineered with care and exactitude.

This aesthetic of precision aligns with other luxury practices: couture tailoring, watchmaking, perfumery—all professions where craftsmanship is measured by control. In Lancôme’s installation, this craftsmanship is automated but remains emotionally compelling, thus maintaining its luxury appeal.

From a psychological standpoint, participation in the robotic ritual imprints a lasting memory. The act of watching, waiting, and finally receiving a single rose creates an echo of ceremonial gifting. Whether or not the visitor keeps the rose, the act itself lingers as a personal brand encounter.

This embodies what sociologist Marcel Mauss calls the “gift exchange”: giving imbues value. By allowing visitors to receive a symbolic gift, Lancôme transforms its branding into a relational experience. The robot becomes the brand’s hand, mechanical yet emotionally extended.

A new poetics of luxury through robotic choreography

Lancôme’s rose-picking robot is not simply a novelty installation—it is a philosophical gesture, a sensual performance, and a branding masterstroke. It invites us to reflect on how beauty, emotion, and technology can coalesce into new forms of consumer engagement.

This robotic choreography marks a transformation in luxury retail, where value is no longer embedded solely in the product but in the aura of the experience. The rose is both symbol and interface, the robot both machine and actor, and the installation both spectacle and sanctuary.

As luxury design moves toward hybrid realities—where fashion, tech, and art converge—Lancôme’s installation is a poetic preview of the future of emotional automation in experiential branding.