Serge Lutens is apparently doing very well indeed, according to an article in today's Womens Wear Daily:
Business at the niche fragrance and cosmetics brand owned by Shiseido has grown fivefold over the past five years, according to Hassan Saad, the brand's director.
Raise your hand if you helped spur that growth! The brand now has 40 perfumes; the best sellers are Fleurs d'Oranger and Ambre Sultan. Pictured is the upcoming fragrance Rousse, which joins the export line this year.
I helped a tiny bit (bought two bottles in the past five years).
Business at the Salons was very slow for a very long time. I don't begrudge their success; I think it's quite good for a brand (I mean the Salons, not Shiseido, obviously) that never advertises anywhere and doesn't export worldwide (the Export range are marketed under Serge Lutens's own name and I always thought it was an independent company; I'm now slightly confused as to how they relate to each other…). It's all by word of mouth and the odd article in magazines. I'm very glad Serge is making a bit of money. I don't say this very often: 'he deserves it'. LOL!
J, I did my own tiny bit as well!
I always thought Shiseido basically owned Lutens. Here is how WWD worded it in 2000:
“Lutens, the mind behind Parfums-Beaute Serge Lutens — bankrolled by Japanese beauty giant Shiseido, for whom he once directed international image campaigns — has a passion for his business.”
Eh-yup. I helped to pay the rent at the Salons, and I'm going to help a little bit more here soon.
It is kind of remarkable that they've stayed afloat flying as low under the radar as they do. Besides basic production costs, that storefront in the Palais Royale has got to be some pretty pricey real estate. My guess is that Shiseido provides a lot of support.
The Salons does belong to Shiseido, there's no doubt about that. What is less sure is whether the Export range belongs to them too.
Ah, I wasn't privy to this kind of info before. LOL! The way the Export range was presented at the time, it seemed that Serge Lutens had decided to strike out completely on his own. As far as I know, the Export range fragrances were not on sale at the Salons for a while. It looks like they decided to stop the pretence at some point.
Oops, should have read Robin's post first. Forget what I said: it's obvious Shiseido owns everything.
J, it is neither here nor there, perhaps, but it says “Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido” on the bottom of the export bottles. And checking that, I realize that I am not far off from needing bifocals. Drat.
Agree that it is remarkable — they have the most rabid group of fans of any niche house, though. They hardly need to advertise, all they need to do is whisper the name of a new scent in someone's ear, and before you know it, 5000 people have heard about it, LOL…
A bit like interesting blogs, really, isn't it?
Bifocals? I have been forced to succumb to the ultimate Old Person embarrassment – reading glasses which swing from a chain around my neck. If I can't find them I am completely sunk, and have to ask striplings of 40 to read the labels on tins when in the supermarket. The export question – is there some confusion because of the fact that the Palais Royal site doesn't actually mention the export scents? At least I don't think they're described.
So true!
LOL…I'll be there with you soon enough!!!
I think the confusion is just that SL has kept the 2 lines separate, and while the Salons clearly have Shiseido in the name, the export line could be mistaken for a non-Shiseido product. But I'm pretty sure Shiseido backs the whole line, including the beauty line as well.
I have contributed a bit to that, though most of my SLs are decants, I do own two full bottles. I adore everything he does, even though I wouldn't wear it all. It's funny, I knew Lutens as a make-up artist before I knew that he had a perfume line. He's amazing. I gladly give money to Shiseido for him.
Thanks to blog sites like NowSmellThis to make a relatively unknown and rare line like Serge Lutens so popular – spread the word more with headlining Serge Lutens reviews, ladies
I would like to see more of his makeup work — some day I'll buy that coffee table book!
HA…people were literally rabid about Serge long before anyone started blogging about perfume. When I first stumbled on to MakeupAlley years ago, everyone there was raving about Rahat Loukhoum.
I'm sure you're 100% right.
The look he created was so easily recognisable: I remember seeing those Shiseido ads in French magazines. The women looked ethereal and beautiful but I couldn't quite relate to them. So completely different from his Morocco-inspired scents.
Oh, I remember that period: I bought my house with the proceeds from selling decants of Rahät Loukoum to members of the Frag Board.
(I wish. LOL!)
LOL…I think some people did manage just that. Rahat & POTL were the big things back then, and both were expensive & relatively rare, and it was easier to sell decants from within the MUA swap system at the time.
Four bottles in 7 months and several blog posts… I did my part.
LOL…if they go out of business, they won't be able to blame you, you certainly did your part!