Burning Down the House: The Influencers Speak
A Sniffapalooza Magazine Exclusive
Part Five –The Finale
Niche fragrance at its best is cutting edge, thought provoking and controversial. We wrap up this series with those influencers who zig, not zag and those who take the ‘road less traveled’; these are our anti-heroes and heroines of scent. Some are outspoken, some stay hidden in the shadows. All are unique.
Part Five features Christopher Brosius of CB.I Hate Perfume, Linda Pilkington of Ormonde Jayne Fragrances, Christophe Laudamiel and Christoph Hornetz ‘Les Christophs’, Nobi Shioyo of S Perfumes, Karl Bradl and Robert Gerstner; Co-Owners of Aedes de Venustas Boutique, Alessandro Gualtieri of Nasomatto and Marie-Helene Rogeon ‘La Reine de le Rose’ of Les Parfums de Rosine Fragrances.
The Question:
“What are your feelings about the state of contemporary fragrance and how do you think the industry must evolve in order to stay relevant to an oversaturated market?”
Name: Linda Pilkington- ‘The Alchemist’
Title: Perfumer, Owner and Founder of Ormonde Jayne Fragrances
Signature Scents: Ormonde Woman, Champaca, Isfarkand
"The spirit of this question is more about the last 20 years and the whole movement of how we now define luxury today. In the last two decades we wanted to attach our personalities to big brand names, we wanted to show off our labels...but now we want to be individuals with our own tailored tastes.
It is a natural progress of society. The other aspect is all about choice. When I was a young maiden, we were introduced to olive oil, but just the one type. Now there are numerous types available, at different qualities and prices sold from outside markets to big supermarkets.
On the subject of niche perfumes, clients of Ormonde Jayne don't want to enter a restaurant or party wearing the same scent as every one else, nor do they want another version of grapefruit with a herbal twist. They also don't want a perfume dreamt up by a marketing team and by the way, most of these perfumes will not be around in ten years time.
To find a perfume that you love, from a small independent perfume house that spends 90% of the budget on the ingredients is what the discerning perfume lover wants today and that is why our sales are so positive. My ambition is for Ormonde Jayne to stand the test of time, I want the perfume to be loved today and in 20 years and that is why we spend so much time and effort in creating our collection"
Coming Soon- A NEW website just for those of us who live ‘across the pond’
Name: Christopher Brosius- ‘The Dissenter’
Title: Perfumer, Owner and Founder of CB.I Hate Perfume, Author
Signature Scents: Burning Leaves, At the Beach 1966, I Am A Dandelion
"I am afraid I have never really been interested in the state of contemporary
fragrance or in the fragrance industry as a whole. While there are those wihin
it whose work I greatly admire and very much respect, en masse it bores
me just as much now as it did when I began independently 16 years ago.
I started making perfume in the first place because the scents I wanted
to wear did not exist. Today I pay the industry in general little attention.
I rarely smell new perfumes by other companies and I hardly ever attend
industry events – it’s all just too predictable and I have my own work & clients
to attend to.
For myself, I have always found “the fragrance industry” to be too big, too
impersonal and too much conventional. I also find it generally lacking in
innovation, creativity and a sense of humor. For the past 20 years, I’ve
watched it largely reinvent the same wheel, follow the same worn paths
leading nowhere & I’ve watched it glut the market with pointless soulless
products. I’ve watched the industry drift further and further away from its
customers who are now treated as global consumers not as individual people.
And more and more I see companies reacting to the present problems within
the industry and its market with a sense of blind panic.
(As a side note, I’ve observed similar problems in a number of other arts &
industries as well. I think many of these problems are simply a reflection of
the cultural climate of the moment. We live in the Age of the Amateur where mediocrity is celebrated – not innovation, style or individuality.)
So personally I think that if the “fragrance industry” maintains its present course, it will not evolve. It will implode. It may not happen tomorrow but it will happen. Historically, throughout the millennia civilizations, empires, cultures and corporations have grown huge, lost touch, lost control, and have then collapsed. This is totally fine with me. It is the natural order of things and I have other things to think about. But change will happen and those who observe, respect and reflect that change are those who will survive.
But more to the point, I know full well that there will always be a place for true innovators, visionaries and creators. We may be large, we may be small but we are the people who will continue to find new ideas, new ways and new markets. We are those who will truly inspire. And these are talents that cannot be copied or artificially induced. So, when the dust finally settles, we are the people who will have quietly reinvented what is currently known as “perfume”…
Names: Christophe Laudamiel and Christoph Hornetz - ‘Les Christophs’
Title: Perfumers Extraordinaire
Signature Scents: Thierry Mugler Parfums' 'Le Coffret' (olfactive interpretation of the book Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)
"We think that Perfumery is at an exciting turning point, at the very beginning of a curve which is going to grow faster and faster in terms of reshuffling the cards and bringing truly new things to the market, to the galleries, museums and to more unusual places.
In the past 15 years we have seen, good or bad, the swamping of the market with me-too products, a decrease in fragrance quality and in fragrance marketing, the revival of retro scents and retro ingredients, the increase power of over-regulating bodies, the development of niche fragrances and the use of celebrities to boost up perfume sales.
There has been a few truly new characters brought to the market, and some key advances of science have taken place (those are always a hint that something important is going to happen in art and design). Furthermore education is now on the radar screen of the fragrance industry (I can develop this further at another time) which is key to develop a discipline and an industry, and the internet is bringing a wind of truth and openness about certain issues and certain absolute fascinations. We have been seeing in the past 2 years truly new initiatives from niche brands and from commercial
brands, however still at an early and timid stage, but things are moving indeed.
The industry will eventually undergo a revolution, which might happen smoothly, or less smoothly,
too early to tell. As in any revolution, a few heads at all levels and a few brands will fall, resulting
from internal considerations but also thanks to the advent of new comers which will be suddenly
emerging without warning signs. True olfactory and perfumistic education will spread to the public,
making people more savvy, more critical but also bringing to perfumery the focus it deserves among
the public, the authorities and the academia at the same level as music, architecture or painting.
So we do have a few more battles to win, we do have to participate or to lead a few more crusades,
but we feel optimistic about the future of perfumery because it is a truly exciting art."
IF YOU OWN THIS IT’S PRICELESS- IF YOU DON’T, ITS GONE DADDY GONE
Name: Nobi Shioyo- ‘The Individualist’
Title: Owner and Founder of S Perfumes
Signature Scent: 100% Love by Sophia Grojsman for S-Perfumes
"The fragrance industry is only becoming similar to the film industry, and I don't think the market is over saturated. Both the industry and the consumers need to be a little bit wiser. If we look at the film industry, there are homemade films (which are booming because of YouTube and others), indie films, B-movies, Art films, Blockbusters, and so on... Blockbusters in fragrance are, of course, anything from Estee, L'Oreal, Coty, LVMH, P&G. I think many niche fragrances today fall into categories equivalent to the B-movies and homemade films. My point is, the industry needs to diversify the market, and consumers need to know their own likings better."
BREAKING NEWS: Sophia Grojsman will be making a personal appearance on behalf of S Perfumes and 100% Love, at Barneys NY Madison Avenue Flagship Store, Nov. 14th at 11:00 AM -5:00 PM
Names: Karl Bradl and Robert Gerstner-
‘The Scent Editors’
Title: Co-Owners of Aedes de Venustas Boutique and www.aedes.com
Signature Scents: Aedes de Venustas Eau de Parfum, Escentric 01 by Escentric Molecules (Karl’s personal fave)
"Every season the market is getting flooded with hundreds of new fragrance releases and there
is absolutely no doubt that there is too much of it out there. However it is a widespread fragrance
market with no limits and there is room for pretty much anything. Fragrance speaks to all different
kind of personalities, age groups, etc that's why we have such a variety of offerings from mass-market fragrances,
luxury fragrances, celebrity fragrances and even cheaper copies of already cheap mass market fragrances that
are sold on the streets. At the end of the day it comes down to the consumer who influences what will stay and
what will disappear. For the educated fragrance aficionado it is easy to differentiate the good from the bad but there are also plenty of consumers that buy into the hype of the latest fashion house or celebrity scent where the actual fragrance plays second fiddle (most of the time).
As far as the beauty giants are concerned I can see that the mass market is trying to jump on to the "niche" bandwagon. It will be interesting to watch how this contradicting tactic develops; for beauty giants it comes down to numbers after all and "niche" means "small". Our personal opinion is "less is more", but we believe this is something we won't be seeing anytime soon. To stay relevant the industry needs to come up with new and innovative creations rather than bringing out the "same old same old" in hundreds of different versions."
Thank you Michelyn for including us!
Name: Alessandro Gualtieri -
‘The Non Conformist’
Title: Perfumer, Owner and Founder of Nasomatto
Signature Scents: China White, Hindu Grass, Duro
"I see two directions. One is the multinationals and medium-size companies: they have become victims of their size following the obligation to constantly sell more; therefore they have to please more and more customers. As a result most of the perfumes become less creative and often refer directly to previous successes (copies). To please their shareholders sometimes top management use all kinds of dubious strategies or just are simply corrupted.
Second there is the niche market where more individual perfumes can exist. As this market offers the interesting stories for the big ones, it's easy for the small companies to be seduced by the business possibilities, but often their product quickly loses quality, because for big business the margins have to be heightened and distribution wider, this is always on the cost of the product.
I personally feel there is a lot of possibilities for creative perfume and a booming request for smaller more precious and exclusive products, therefore I started Nasomatto. I have no answers for the big companies. I don't care."
Name : Marie-Helene Rogeon- ‘La Reine de le Rose’
Title: Co-Owner of Les Parfums de Rosine Fragrances and Les Parfums de Rosine Boutique, Paris
Signature Scents: Parfum de Rosine - La Rose de Rosine, Rose Diabolo
"My feeling is that today, there is an evolution of the market towards a multiplication of said Niche brands.
I think that only those with a real concept, a real story and real products will stay. This means authenticity and quality of the creations, and consistency between concept – story- products.
Some brands which are no longer in the trend, which have not been able to adapt themselves to the market will disappear, (or have already disappeared), some brands which were primarily niche brands, become traditional, and new brands appear…This is a natural evolution.
My deep feeling is that, even on an overcrowded market, there is always space for quality and creativity. My philosophy is to respect the consumer, who is clever and who, at the end, will choose the best, at the best price, and what suits her best. This means, for the industry, to be able to work with a certain level of honesty. A consumer is able to make the difference between a real and a fake essence, whatsoever…"
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: My deepest and personal thanks to all the readers, influencers and supporters of ‘The Burning Down the House Series’. We opened the door, pulled back the curtain… let’s see who will fan the fire of change and what scented smoke rises from the ashes!
-Compiled by Michelyn Camen
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