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In the first part of the investigation, the context was set for Perfume as a gateway to the brand universe for an aspirational, less affluent clientele. But also as a geographic gas pedal and anti-crisis remedy for luxury brands. While uncertainty is gaining ground, the potential of the Chinese market is giving new importance to this market, to the point that many players want to challenge L’Oréal on its own ground.
Less restrictive than a skincare routine and providing instant gratification, high-end perfume appears to be the most dynamic category of beauty products in recent months, with an acceleration in sales in 2022. Launches have resumed but with less fuss and a higher price point.
Perfume, a priority playground for brands
Global sales of prestige perfumes in 2022 have thus recorded a 19% growth on a comparable basis. This situation can be explained by a change in the behavior of Generation Z, for whom perfume is part of a malleable self-expression that is less fixed than with millennials. These behaviors challenge the monopolistic position of signature fragrances in the hearts of consumers. As Nylon magazine describes it, “The challenge is no longer so much to wear a popular, instantly recognizable fragrance as to seek mystery and exclusivity.
There is also an increased quest for a fragrance to become part of one’s personal narrative, as with Parfums Margiela’s Replica collection, which launched in 2012 but went viral on Tiktok recently. With names like “By the fire”, “Walk on the beach” or “Lazy Saturday morning”, the brand proposes to explore the concept of “olfactory memory” where each fragrance transports the customer to places in his daily life.
For example, in France, sales of prestige fragrances in selective distribution have increased by more than 177% between 2019 and 2022, according to the NPD group research institute. So much so that the fragrance universe was the first in the Beauty category to return to its pre-pandemic level. As RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi tells Business of Fashion, “Fragrances have been kind of neglected. That’s starting to change.”
Indeed, the strength of LVMH’s fiscal 2022 was largely driven by strong fragrance market growth. Dior’s Sauvage, for example, was crowned the world’s number-one seller. This same product category was also behind the Spanish group Puig’s sales growth of more than 74%, making it the world’s fifth-largest perfume manufacturer.
A trend that has convinced La Bouche Rouge, a single-product brand until now – in lipstick – to diversify into niche perfumes, at 195 euros each. A first collection of perfumes in the image of this responsible company and embracing the expectations of a young generation increasingly focused on sustainability and natural materials, from the bottle to the essence used. A world first, the result is a series of five perfumes designed by the greatest perfumers, each with 93% natural ingredients and 30% upcycled ingredients (recycled products revalorized). La Bouche Rouge is also capitalizing on the trend of refillable perfumes. A segment that Prada had already explored in 2022 with its Paradoxe fragrance.
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Still in the niche fragrance business, By Far has gone one step further with seven wearable, buildable scents called DayDream. Each scent is presented in a 100 ml bottle made of recycled glass that can easily be filled with a small 20 ml bottle that is also a charm to hang on her bag. The customer buys a selection of perfumes that she is free to adapt to the mood of the day, her moods or her outfit, just like the eyeshadows.
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Perfume can be considered, in the words of François Pinault, during his announcement of Kering Beauté, as “a natural extension” of the luxury field. Indeed, throughout the history of luxury, fashion houses have always shared a special relationship with fragrance, becoming one of the first points of extension of their brand universe.
This is a challenge both to diversify sources of income and to open up to a wider and less wealthy clientele.
For proof of this, one need only think of the pioneers such as Chanel’s N°5 (1921), Lanvin’s Arpège (1927) or Patou’s Joy (1929). After the war, other companies specializing in textiles and accessories began making their mark, such as Dior and Balmain with Miss Dior (1947) and Vent Vert (1948). Later, Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne took the plunge with Y for the former (1964) and Calandre for the latter (1969). A phenomenon that has moved beyond couture to other trades: the trunk maker Louis Vuitton (1927), the saddler Hermès (1951), the jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels (1976) or the brand of fine lingerie La Perla (1987).
In recent years, other brands have tried to transcribe their universe and their unique inspirations in olfactory form. In fact, as part of their luxury lifestyle, the brands must remain consistent with the identity of their collections.
For its first men’s fragrance, Moncler pour Homme, launched in 2022, Moncler let the House’s codes shine through in the packaging – which looks like a metal flask – with reminiscent reliefs evoking its mountain world and padded jackets. This House DNA, evoking vast green expanses and warm wood fires, is also reflected in the juice created by perfumers Antoine Maisondieu and Christophe Raynaud: an aromatic woody fragrance. The top note nods to the vibrant natural beauty of an alpine forest, combined with the energizing freshness of sage. There are also notes of vetiver and lemon.
Last March, Italian luxury fashion brand Brunello Cucinelli – best known for its cashmere sweaters – launched its fragrance line, including a men’s and a women’s fragrance, under license with the manufacturer Euroitalia. Following on from its line of scented candles, the aim is to recreate the brand’s expertise and elegance in a fragrance. Perfumers Daphne Bugey and Olivier Cresp of Firmenich were in charge of creating the scents. The result is an unusual woody fragrance for women with the addition of chestnut as a key note and a contemporary and timeless fragrance for men.
The latter, composed of cypress essence reminiscent of those located at the brand’s headquarters in Solomeo, is balanced with notes of juniper, bergamot, lemon, ginger and black pepper. At the launch, Brunello Cucinelli said that this dream became reality, made all the more sense as the fragrance could be likened to “a caress, which, with confidence, offers the human being a colorful vision of the world.”
In fact, perfume is increasingly experienced as a pleasure purchase for oneself. Coty CEO Sue Nabi reminded Business of Fashion that this olfactory product is rooted in daily or weekly practices to improve their overall well-being rather than as an extravagance.
Read also > [Investigation] Perfume: an extension of the luxury domain (Part 1/3)
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In the first part of the investigation, the context was set for Perfume as a gateway to the brand universe for an aspirational, less affluent clientele. But also as a geographic gas pedal and anti-crisis remedy for luxury brands. While uncertainty is gaining ground, the potential of the Chinese market is giving new importance to this market, to the point that many players want to challenge L’Oréal on its own ground.
Less restrictive than a skincare routine and providing instant gratification, high-end perfume appears to be the most dynamic category of beauty products in recent months, with an acceleration in sales in 2022. Launches have resumed but with less fuss and a higher price point.
Perfume, a priority playground for brands
Global sales of prestige perfumes in 2022 have thus recorded a 19% growth on a comparable basis. This situation can be explained by a change in the behavior of Generation Z, for whom perfume is part of a malleable self-expression that is less fixed than with millennials. These behaviors challenge the monopolistic position of signature fragrances in the hearts of consumers. As Nylon magazine describes it, “The challenge is no longer so much to wear a popular, instantly recognizable fragrance as to seek mystery and exclusivity.
There is also an increased quest for a fragrance to become part of one’s personal narrative, as with Parfums Margiela’s Replica collection, which launched in 2012 but went viral on Tiktok recently. With names like “By the fire”, “Walk on the beach” or “Lazy Saturday morning”, the brand proposes to explore the concept of “olfactory memory” where each fragrance transports the customer to places in his daily life.
For example, in France, sales of prestige fragrances in selective distribution have increased by more than 177% between 2019 and 2022, according to the NPD group research institute. So much so that the fragrance universe was the first in the Beauty category to return to its pre-pandemic level. As RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi tells Business of Fashion, “Fragrances have been kind of neglected. That’s starting to change.”
Indeed, the strength of LVMH’s fiscal 2022 was largely driven by strong fragrance market growth. Dior’s Sauvage, for example, was crowned the world’s number-one seller. This same product category was also behind the Spanish group Puig’s sales growth of more than 74%, making it the world’s fifth-largest perfume manufacturer.
A trend that has convinced La Bouche Rouge, a single-product brand until now – in lipstick – to diversify into niche perfumes, at 195 euros each. A first collection of perfumes in the image of this responsible company and embracing the expectations of a young generation increasingly focused on sustainability and natural materials, from the bottle to the essence used. A world first, the result is a series of five perfumes designed by the greatest perfumers, each with 93% natural ingredients and 30% upcycled ingredients (recycled products revalorized). La Bouche Rouge is also capitalizing on the trend of refillable perfumes. A segment that Prada had already explored in 2022 with its Paradoxe fragrance.
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In the first part of the investigation, the context was set for Perfume as a gateway to the brand universe for an aspirational, less affluent clientele. But also as a geographic gas pedal and anti-crisis remedy for luxury brands. While uncertainty is gaining ground, the potential of the Chinese market is giving new importance to this market, to the point that many players want to challenge L’Oréal on its own ground.
Less restrictive than a skincare routine and providing instant gratification, high-end perfume appears to be the most dynamic category of beauty products in recent months, with an acceleration in sales in 2022. Launches have resumed but with less fuss and a higher price point.
Perfume, a priority playground for brands
Global sales of prestige perfumes in 2022 have thus recorded a 19% growth on a comparable basis. This situation can be explained by a change in the behavior of Generation Z, for whom perfume is part of a malleable self-expression that is less fixed than with millennials. These behaviors challenge the monopolistic position of signature fragrances in the hearts of consumers. As Nylon magazine describes it, “The challenge is no longer so much to wear a popular, instantly recognizable fragrance as to seek mystery and exclusivity.
There is also an increased quest for a fragrance to become part of one’s personal narrative, as with Parfums Margiela’s Replica collection, which launched in 2012 but went viral on Tiktok recently. With names like “By the fire”, “Walk on the beach” or “Lazy Saturday morning”, the brand proposes to explore the concept of “olfactory memory” where each fragrance transports the customer to places in his daily life.
For example, in France, sales of prestige fragrances in selective distribution have increased by more than 177% between 2019 and 2022, according to the NPD group research institute. So much so that the fragrance universe was the first in the Beauty category to return to its pre-pandemic level. As RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi tells Business of Fashion, “Fragrances have been kind of neglected. That’s starting to change.”
Indeed, the strength of LVMH’s fiscal 2022 was largely driven by strong fragrance market growth. Dior’s Sauvage, for example, was crowned the world’s number-one seller. This same product category was also behind the Spanish group Puig’s sales growth of more than 74%, making it the world’s fifth-largest perfume manufacturer.
A trend that has convinced La Bouche Rouge, a single-product brand until now – in lipstick – to diversify into niche perfumes, at 195 euros each. A first collection of perfumes in the image of this responsible company and embracing the expectations of a young generation increasingly focused on sustainability and natural materials, from the bottle to the essence used. A world first, the result is a series of five perfumes designed by the greatest perfumers, each with 93% natural ingredients and 30% upcycled ingredients (recycled products revalorized). La Bouche Rouge is also capitalizing on the trend of refillable perfumes. A segment that Prada had already explored in 2022 with its Paradoxe fragrance.
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