The Fragrance Foundation has announced the winners of the 2010 Fifi Awards, known as the "Oscars of the fragrance industry":
Women’s Luxe (sold in over 250 doors) ~ Marc Jacobs Lola
Men’s Luxe ~ Tom Ford Grey Vetiver
Women's Nouveau Niche (sold in 51 to 250 doors) ~ Bond No. 9 Astor Place
Men's Nouveau Niche ~ Bond No. 9 Brooklyn
Unique Boutique (Men's & Women's; sold in 50 or fewer doors) ~ Tom Ford Private Blend White Suede
(via fifiawards at Twitter). I assume that the other category winners will be posted at the Fifi Awards website shortly.
See also: the Fragrance Awards page.
Lola Lola Lola …
La la la la Lola.
Go Tom Ford !! Grey Vetiver AND White Suede. Grey Vetiver was just ok for me, but I do like White Suede. Nothing groundbreaking but very pleasant.
Too bad they couldn’t find something better than “very pleasant” though…I mean, imagine if they actually awarded things that were trend-setters.
Trend-setters, “outsiders” and the like NEED. NOT. APPLY. They should call these the Emmys of the ‘fragrance world’…even duller, more predictable choices than the Oscars! HA!
I can understand that they don’t award “outsiders” — that’s not their mission. But if they want to show the world what fragrance can do, they ought to reward things that are a notch above pleasant.
I know what you mean, but they don’t really go for those. Kevin is right, it’s just like the Grammys or Oscars, they don’t go really go for the bold, unconventional, trend-setter ones.
As a Battlestar Galactica fan, I can see the analogy with the Emmys…
Hmm… not a very exciting list. I don’t think Lola was that great. I actually have Daisy and did wonder for a long time why it was chosen as perfume of the year but the more I wear it, the more I think this light fragrance does have some complexity to it….
Maybe it’s the same for Lola….?
I thought Lola & Daisy were both really well-done…just that if you’re trying to show consumers the best the industry can produce, neither makes the grade IMHO. It is usually how it works in other industries w/ awards too (the best picture of the year rarely wins the Oscar), so this is just basic kvetching, nothing more 🙂
I had to look back at your post of the finalists and was scratching my head and saying Huh? I haven’t heard much about many of them.
That being said, I’m not trashing the awards. I actually like Brooklyn a lot. Haven’t heard one thing about Astor Place or “Perfume”. Apparently FiFi likes Bond.
Also, I’d be curious to see lists of what people do think would have been appropriate or deserving winners or nominees? We’d have to keep in mind what was eligible not only by date of launch but also brands eligible and the way the categories are carved out. CdG must not be eligilbe at all? I poked around on the FF website but couldn’t easily see much info about which brands participate. Is it a voluntary thing where they pay for membership or something?
Joe, Astor Place was a thin citrus of no significance whatsoever. This list makes no sense to me.
You do have to apply, and if you’re not a member of the FF I think you have to pay to apply? But not sure about the latter part.
I liked Brooklyn too, but don’t think it is even the best from Bond, much less the best fragrance in that category from 2009.
Lola??!?! Really??? It’s the end of the world as we know it…..
I am sure the Tom Fords deserved it, but giving Lola a major award is insulting to all the perfumers who do really good work on mainstream scents – and yes, they do exist!.
I’m pretty sure that something equally as dippy as Lola won last year – I’m just too lazy to look.
Agreed. I finally got a sample of Lola and wasn’t exactly underwhelmed. It was just more of what I’d expected, nothing special but pretty enough in an average sense. Both the TFs do sound really nice, but I’ve been put off by the price to try either given I’ve got a few bottles in a similar range I *know* I want to buy.
Where’s the award for those who’d rather a Sundance, IFC or film school stunner? I had this discussion with my sweetie a couple days ago. It isn’t that there aren’t a lot of good department store frags out there, but there are so many more interesting perfumes that aren’t and tracking down a sample is part of that excitement rather than just grabbing a tester off a huge display at my local drug store. JMHO