The Academia del Perfume in Spain has announced the winners of their fragrance awards for 2016:
Best women's fragrance, luxury: Valentino Donna
Best men's fragrance, luxury: Christian Dior Sauvage
Best women's fragrance, niche: Alaïa Paris by Azzedine Alaïa
Best men's fragrance, niche: Bottega Veneta Pour Homme Extreme
You can find the rest of the winners at Academia del Perfume at Twitter.
See also: the Fragrance Awards page.
Meh! Is about all I can say. I don’t think either of the two”niches” are really niche. I have a travel size of Alaia and it’s pleasant enough but if the judges can’t find a more interesting fragrance among all this year’s offerings, I feel sorry for them. Have they never heard of Papillon, Parfum d’ Empire, En Voyage, Hiram Bloom etc. etc.?
There are some great niche perfume stores here in Spain, as well as perfumers like Carner and Ramón Monegal, so, no excuses.
Usually in these awards, niche is defined by the number of stores selling the fragrance — that is, it’s in more limited distribution than luxury/prestige. The kinds of fragrances you are talking about would be something else altogether — the US Fifis used to cover them with an “indie” / “boutique” category.