When YSL Beauty briefed their 2025 pop-up campaign, the display props needed to do two things at once: replicate the tactile quality of the brand’s cushion compact — down to the leather grain — while reading as unmistakably luxury at retail scale. That tension between realism and presence is where this project lived.
Here is a look at how we manufactured these pieces, from 3D modeling through electroplated finishing..
The Brief — Oversized Cosmetic Props for a Pop-Up Campaign
YSL Beauty required a set of enlarged cushion compact replicas for a pop-up retail activation. The props needed to function as standalone hero displays, each one stable enough to stand on its own base without additional support structures.
Three details mattered most to the brand team: the gold YSL logo had to hold a mirror-finish reflection under store lighting; the cushion surface needed to reproduce the original product’s leather texture convincingly at enlarged scale; and every unit had to be structurally independent, ready to place on counters, plinths, or floor positions without mounting hardware.
Material and Process Decisions
Why 3D Printing for the Base Form
For a cosmetic compact at roughly 4× original size, CNC milling a solid block would waste material and struggle with the compound curves of the cushion lid. 3D printing (SLA resin) gave us the organic geometry in a single pass, with enough surface resolution to hold the leather texture imprint during the post-processing stage.
The trade-off with 3D printing at this scale is structural weight. We resolved this by designing each prop as a hollow shell with internal ribbing, then integrating a steel base plate during assembly rather than relying on the printed body for stability.
Electroplated Gold Mirror Finish on the Logo
The YSL monogram needed to read as polished gold under varied retail lighting — not painted gold, not foil-wrapped. We applied a vacuum electroplating process to achieve a true mirror finish on the logo elements.
The process runs in three stages: a base coat of copper for adhesion, a nickel layer for corrosion resistance, then the gold-tone top coat. The result holds reflectivity that spray-painted or PVD alternatives cannot match at this part geometry. For brands where the logo is the hero element, electroplating is the only finish that performs consistently across lighting conditions.
Leather Texture Replication
Reproducing the cushion compact’s leather grain at enlarged scale meant the texture had to be re-mapped, not simply scaled up. A direct 4× enlargement would have looked artificial — the grain pattern would have read as exaggerated and lost the tactile association with real leather.
We worked from a high-resolution scan of the original product surface, then adjusted grain density and depth for the enlarged dimensions so the texture reads correctly at arm’s-length viewing distance in a retail environment. The texture was applied to the printed surface using a combination of textured coating and hand-finishing.
Engineering the Integrated Base
Pop-up display props frequently fail at the base. A beautiful sculptural element that wobbles on a counter or needs adhesive putty to stay upright undermines the entire installation. For this project, every prop was built with an integrated metal base welded and bonded internally during assembly.
The base serves a dual purpose: it provides weighted stability (critical for high-traffic pop-up environments where customers walk close to displays) and it creates a clean, flush bottom profile that sits directly on any flat surface. No separate stand, no visible mounting hardware.
Production Sequence
The full production flow from approved 3D model to finished prop ran through these stages:
- 3D modeling and engineering review — geometry finalized, wall thicknesses confirmed, base integration designed
- SLA 3D printing — hollow shell construction with internal ribbing
- Surface preparation — sanding, filling, primer coats
- Leather texture application — re-mapped grain applied and hand-finished
- Electroplating — copper, nickel, and gold-tone layers on logo elements
- Assembly — metal base integration, structural bonding
- Quality inspection — reflectivity check, texture consistency, stability testing
- Protective packaging — custom foam crating for freight
What This Project Demonstrates
Cosmetic display props for luxury brands sit at an intersection of precision manufacturing and brand sensitivity. The tolerances are not just dimensional — they are perceptual. A logo that is 0.5mm off-center may pass engineering QC but fail brand approval. A texture that looks correct in workshop lighting may flatten under retail LEDs.
This YSL Beauty project required the manufacturing team to think beyond fabrication and into the visual conditions of the final retail environment. That is the difference between producing a prop and producing a display that works.
Related Capabilities
If your brand requires custom display props for pop-up activations, product launches, or seasonal campaigns, our manufacturing capabilities include:
- 3D printing and rapid prototyping for complex geometries and organic forms
- Electroplating, PVD, and vacuum metallization for metallic finishes across gold, silver, rose gold, and custom tones
- FRP (fiberglass) sculpture for large-scale display elements
- Acrylic fabrication including CNC cutting, laser engraving, and flame polishing
- Metal fabrication for structural frameworks, bases, and architectural display components
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