Sweet smell of success for niche perfumes (#1688120)

They do not advertise and are largely unknown to the general public, but niche perfumes can command prices of hundreds of dollars among men and women looking to stand out.

Produced in small batches with rare, natural or high-quality ingredients, niche perfumes are becoming big business, even while retaining their exclusive nature.

“We have had absolutely incredible growth,” said Julien Sausset, director of Parfums de Marly, a specialty fragrance producer based in France.

The company posted more than 50 percent sales growth in 2023 and expects more than 40 percent growth this year to reach $600 million in sales.

“People no longer want to smell others. They want to free themselves, to affirm their identity,” Sausset told AFP.

Producers use high concentrations of unconventional ingredients to give their perfumes unique and complex aromas, such as amber, bergamot, cedar wood, pink pepper or rhubarb.

According to Sausset, niche perfumes represent between 10 and 12 percent of the overall market.

It is likely to continue expanding, growing at a rate of 13 percent annually, while mass-market perfumes grow between three and five percent.

Present in more than 80 countries, Parfums de Marly does most of its business in the United States, where a small bottle costs at least $250.

He plans to open a boutique in Paris, near the Champs-Elysées, in a neighborhood known as the Golden Triangle for its high concentration of luxury stores.

“The important thing is to have a place where you can have your own salespeople tell stories and present the products,” Sausset said.

The brand was created in 2009 by Julien Sprecher, an aficionado of the 18th century, when modern perfumery was created.

The name comes from the Chateau de Marly, located near Versailles, where Louis XV was known for hosting lavish parties.

Niche perfumes take advantage of that feeling of luxury.

Julie El Ghouzzi, who wrote a book about the luxury industry, said the sector developed in reaction to the popularization of perfumes in the 1990s, when many brands seemed to resemble each other.

Some perfumers wanted to do something different, “explode the notion of masculine and feminine and developed perfumes around high-end ingredients, using the names of these ingredients and not the brands,” he said.

These independent perfumers “didn't have the money to order custom bottles, so they used rectangular bottles for all their perfumes. And it worked,” El Ghouzzi said.

Their success led luxury houses such as Dior and Cartier to imitate them with simple bottles to indicate that the product was niche, he added.

This “bottle code” has changed a bit, with some perfumers now adopting more creative bottles, but beauty products giant L'Oreal still uses it for its specialty perfumes.

But while the bottle tells consumers a difference, it's what's inside that sets them apart.

“When a consumer pays 400 euros for a bottle of orange blossom perfume, it is in our best interest to use high-quality orange blossoms in high concentrations,” said Karine Lebret, global vice president of olfactory science and fragrance design at L'Oréal.

“Today there is no leading brand without its niche perfume,” said Eric Briones, who wrote a book about luxury and Generation Z (people born between the late '90s and early 2010s).

He said the Chinese market and Generation Z especially like niche perfumes in contrast to other luxury items.

Then there is the ultra-niche of personalized perfumes.

Sylvaine Delacourte, who previously created perfumes for Guerlain, now has her own line of perfumes but also offers to create bespoke fragrances.

A two-hour meeting is organized with clients to take a “journey into their olfactory memory.”

After that, a unique fragrance is created for several months. The price: 20,000 euros ($21,000) for two liters.