How Davines Group redefines beauty through purpose, sustainability and regeneration

A legacy rooted in values

Davide’s journey began with the values quietly passed down from his parents: “My parents have been humbleness, stewardship, compassion, perseverance. All those elements that they have, and they never really told me that, but just observing them, I want to think that I nourish myself with that.” Rather than simply inheriting a legacy, Davide has reimagined it—building on the past to create something new. He describes it as leadership by example, first learned at home and then applied to the company his parents founded.

He also “accepted the destiny” of the family business very consciously. As a student, seeing his parents busy and fulfilled, he chose to structure his own path so that he could join them—“not stepping into their shoes, but building something new in the company.” Had his parents chosen another profession, he believes he would still have followed, bringing the same values of service and stewardship.

Sustainability as strategy, not slogan

Long before “sustainability” became a buzzword, Davines Group was pioneering a stakeholder-driven approach. “This idea of going into sustainability from the very beginning when the world was not as, you know, famous as of today, was probably because of my origins. My grandparents were farmers, so I… developed this biophilic dimension that became very strong with me.”

As a trained chemist, Davide recalls that the initial thrill was to add new synthetic molecules and polymers to formulas. Decades later, the excitement is the opposite: removing problematic derivatives while maintaining, or even improving, performance by using naturally based ingredients. That shift marked a turning point in how Davines Group formulates its products and thinks about innovation.

Davines Group became one of the first B Corp-certified beauty brands, helping launch the “B-Corp Beauty Coalition,” uniting more than 50 companies to drive systemic change. “We don’t think anymore in a shareholder economy way, we think stakeholder.” Certification is not a static label but a demanding process: every three years Davines must re-certify and improve its score across four main impact pillars—decarbonisation, circularity, biodiversity and water. “It keeps pushing you forward to always do better,” Davide notes, describing B Corp as a training camp that makes the business stronger and more resilient.

Regeneration: the next frontier

For Davines Group, sustainability is not enough. The company is now leading the way in regenerative business—actively restoring ecosystems, innovating with natural ingredients, and investing in projects that give back more than they take. “In the last four years in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Brazil, we took out from beach plastic and ocean plastic more than 3,500 tons, on our way to our 5,000 tons target to 2030.”

Because packaging cannot disappear overnight, Davines Group set a clear goal: for every unit of plastic it puts on the market, it supports the collection of the same amount from the environment. This is Davide’s concrete example of what he calls the “next step of sustainability”: regeneration, aiming for a net positive impact.

To extend this thinking beyond beauty, Davide co-founded the Regenerative Society Foundation with other entrepreneurs. Together they have developed a multidimensional framework to assess the “regenerative index” of specific projects—looking not only at financial outcomes, but also environmental and social regeneration.

Purpose at the core

Davines Group’s philosophy is visible everywhere in their offices: “Do our best for the world, creating good life for all our stakeholders through beauty, ethics and sustainability.” Davide’s advice for the next generation of leaders?

“Think in an ecosystemic way and be a steward of your company… If you want longevity in your business, the most important thing is to have a strong purpose and to keep the purpose first. For us, the main thing is the why.”

Looking ahead, Davide plans to further secure this purpose through a new governance model: a Davines Foundation will own part of the company, alongside the B Corp operating business and a family office focused on impact investing. The goal is coherence across profit, impact and philanthropy—all guided by the same regenerative values.

A model for the future

Davines Group proves that positive change and business success can go hand in hand. By integrating purpose into every decision and using business capital as a force for good, Davide Bollati and his team are redefining what it means to be a leader in the beauty industry—and beyond.