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FRAGRANCE: GROWTH AND TRENDS FRAGRANCE INDUSTRY UPDATE
GROWTH AND TRENDS FRAGRANCE INDUSTRY UPDATE:
Michael Edwards Releases American Legends
By Clayton Ilolahia
We are now well past the halfway point of the year. Although the summer holidays in the Northern Hemisphere bring much of the global industry to a halt, our prediction for a strong year of fragrance launches looks to be up around 20% on last year as the third quarter ends.
Statistica reported that the global fragrance industry generated revenues worth 87 billion AUD in 2023, a 9% increase from the previous year. By 2024, they report the market size will reach around 89.6 billion dollars, with a 2.75% annual increase from 2023.
Unsurprisingly, this projected annual growth is being driven by niche and luxury fragrance houses. These brands are often capable of building a loyal customer base. Niche and luxury fragrance consumers tend to have a higher disposable income compared to customers in other retail sectors that are in decline.
In terms of olfactive trends we are seeing in 2024, trends we have previously reported continue to evolve. Consumer demand continues for fragrances that are long-lasting and highly diffusive. To meet these demands, we continue to see niche brands reworking some of their bestselling fragrances into more potent extrait de parfum formats.
A shift in consumer values and the rise of Gen Z as an important consumer has caused brands to pivot their value propositions, and we have seen an increase in new brands that promote more sustainable and ethical fragrances. Vegan and cruelty-free fragrances in refillable and recycled packaging is now standard. Brands are also creating fragrances that feature upcycled ingredients as well as ingredients that are ethically and sustainably sourced.
AMERICAN LEGENDS OUT NOW
Michael Edwards’ latest book, American Legends is now available. Three decades in the making, Michael has been quoted as saying it is his best work to date. In his foreword, Leonard A. Lauder wrote, “Read it! Give it to every business student, entrepreneur and marketer you know.” The son of the great American beauty pioneer followed with a personal letter to Michael and thanked him for his chapters on the classic Lauder fragrances. He wrote, “Although I thought I knew all there was to know about them, I found that I learned something about each one. Thank you for what I am calling “the re-education of Leonard Lauder!”
It was only natural that the first book to document the evolution of American fragrances should be launched in America. In May, Michael travelled to New York to give presentations on his new book at the American Society of Perfumers and an evening presentation at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. The event was hosted by Linda Levy, president of the Fragrance Foundation.
International Flavors & Fragrances also hosted a special event to celebrate the book’s launch with their team of perfumers and evaluators, a fitting tribute given the pivotal role the company played in setting global fragrance trends with legendary perfumers such as Ernest Shiftan, Josephine Catapano, Sophia Grojsman and Carlos Benaïm, all of whom are quoted in Michael’s book.
The presentations in New York became the blueprint for similar presentations as the launch activities continued in London with events hosted by the Fragrance Foundation UK and the British Society of Perfumers. For the book’s launch in France, l’Osmothèque in Versailles hosted an event.
Writer Brian Buchanan who was present at the Osmothèque event recalls how Michael spoke of his time as an account executive for Halston perfumes.
“The development process was long and difficult. Halston had a hands-on approach and would take an interest in every detail, including the bottle shape of his eponymous feminine – which was expensive to produce because it needed custom machinery to make its unusual bent form,” writes Buchanan. Halston and Z-14 are presented in the book as examples of American ingenuity in the 1970s for fragrance creation.
American Legends documents the evolution, richness and sheer originality of American fragrances from Elizabeth Arden’s Blue Grass (1934) to Le Labo’s Santal 33 (2011). The result is living history, told through the words of the creators behind forty legendary American perfumes.
After Paris, Michael presented at the World Perfumery Congress in Geneva. The annual four-day symposium is a key event for all vocations from perfumers and evaluators to ingredient suppliers and marketing executives. Michael’s talk was well received, a sign that regardless of nationality, the history of American perfumery is a topic of great interest to all. Michael says, “To the French, perfume is liquid art; to the Italians, liquid style; to the Americans, it is liquid money.”
Michael is currently in Australia presenting American Legends to the industry, media and lovers of fragrance before he returns to Paris in October.
The book is currently available from www.fragrancesoftheworld.com
Three examples of longlasting, diffusive Goldfield & Banks Silky Woods Elixir, P Frapin & Cie, L’Humaniste Extreme, Amouage, Exceptional Extraits Guidance 46
