Louis Vuitton has made no secret of its desire to build a beauty empire. The $465bn beauty market is set to increase to $750bn by 2024, according to Inkwood Research, and although last year Mintel reported that the fragrance category is only set to increase by about 1.4 per cent to £1.5bn by 2022, the blockbuster perfume remains a luxury lodestar. Chanel has built a $10bn-a-year business around a few key signature scents.
— Read more at On the scent: why Louis Vuitton is putting its faith in fragrance at Financial Times.
Shocking….I am speechless at these numbers. I had heard that Chanel was 10 billion per year in 2017…built around a few signature scents? It explains why so many of the Chanels that were highly affordable years ago are now in the EXCLUSIVE range (I am looking at you no 22).
Well, I will try to vote with my wallet and will put my money towards small artisanal brands whenever I decide to buy something in the future. I am just sick of all the greed.
A tiny bit of devil’s advocate here — yes, the fragrance industry is all about greed, but Chanel is one of the few brands that continues to make its historical fragrances available even though they don’t sell well. If 22 were made by Dior, or even Guerlain, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t be able to buy it anymore, or that it would be so changed that you wouldn’t recognize it.
I do not for a moment suggest they are doing that for any reason other than branding, but all the same, I think it’s a plus for perfumistas.
But no argument from me with the idea that you can vote with your dollars and spread the wealth around towards smaller players!
Yes, I agree with what you are saying…but if I am not mistaken I think they did pull no 22…and then bring it back as an exclusive…and it isn’t the same…at least not to my nose….that glorious incense drydown is gone
….but I do appreciate what you are saying in that Dior and Guerlain have taken a different approach….I still think Chanel is all about the money…at least with many of the artisanal lines I feel as though those perfumers have a true passion about their creations (Andy Tauer, Laurie Erickson, Diane St. Clair to name a few). And if I am going to spend my limited resources I personally would rather support them if I have to choose.
I have a bottle of 22 in the Exclusifs EDT, and the glorious incense note is present. ????
Really? It smelled different to me.. much more ambery and sweeter…. maybe because it’s more current? I think it became an exclusive in 2007…the decant I had is from around 2016…
Bear, from what I have read there was more frankincense in the vintage no 22 cologne…the pure perfume (which I also had at one point) less so…but you know we all smell things differently (especially me with my wonky nose and skin that amps up sweet notes)
Yep, they did pull it and bring it back! But if it had been Dior, it would now smell inexplicably like raspberry, peony, caramel and white musk. They are both all about the money, but with Chanel there’s the bonus that they are making some attempt to do a decent job.
But I wholeheartedly support your general idea and I guess I better find out who Diane St Clair is…I am so behind
yeah I guess you are right in that they are at least making an attempt. Jessica did an awesome review on St Clairs Scents here …I think in the spring?
Right…totally forgot. Thank you!
Chocolatemaripan8, you are right about the exclusive price range. Chanel has learned its lesson after the second war that if you are selling luxury price and public are key factors. The history that tells the Chanel history says that after World War II sales of Chanel No 5 started to decrease even that the product didn’t change. They found that people stopped to see it as a luxury fragrance, so its appeal started to decrease. It was available everywhere and in very affordable sizes and concentrations. After that moment they started to carefully control their price range and distribution.
Interesting…I guess we are willing to pay more for “luxury” even though some might argue that the product is not the same due to reformulation? I am selfishly looking at all of this from my own limited finances…I just remember the cost of some of the Chanels in the late 70s/ early 80s. Cristalle was glorious and full of oakmoss if I am not mistaken and I could afford it as a teen. Now the price is high and it just doesn’t smell the same to me….OK It’s time for me to get off my soap box before Robin kills me
I would say that this “we” is not us, perfumistas, but for the regular user or someone that loves fragrances but doesn’t have a huge collection i think that this is not a problem. I have the impression that in the case of Chanel the reformulation was exactly to make the line more appealing to the non-perfumista, altough in my opinion in some cases the adaptations were dreadful (like Sycomore, which now seems a vetiver made from Zara)
Yes I a sure this is the case. One youtube reviewer said the new colognes were made to appeal to the masses. he said they were pleasant but not earth shattering. But I suppose that is what sells.
Something’s wonky with those numbers. I checked and the Chanel $10 billion figure is their total sales. Is perfume 50% of that? I have no idea. But in any event, it’s so much that how can “the fragrance category” increase “by about 1.4 per cent to [only] £1.5bn by 2022”?
Hermès sold about $170 million of fragrance in the first six months of this year. LVMH sold over $6 billion of fragrances and cosmetics last year.
!!!!!!!!!!!
You have also to consider that you cannot compare a small indie brand to a big luxury brand. A small indie brand will not probably rely on a retail chanel to sell its product, thus it will not necessarily need to play the market rules, it can focus on building an identity. Still, there is the downside of that of being limited to a very specific public that craves original fragrances. And being limited means that you will probably see your business take many years to fly, and also means that you will be limited in your choices, since being small limites your access to the scale-economy of things that allows you to invest in better materials, better bottles, better presentation at better prices. It’s not a simple decision i guess
yes…this is all true….
Speaking of Chanel , there’s a new 1hr documentary on the BBC on Thursday 30th about No5. To quote the BBC PR :
“The story, both thrilling and dark, of the world’s most famous perfume. In 1921, Coco Chanel’s revolutionary perfume concept was as audacious as her outlandish designer clothing. At its launch, it was an instant hit. From the 1920s to the 1940s the Number 5 brand was at the centre of a war between the celebrated designer and her entrepreneurial business partners, the Wertheimer brothers. During WWII, with the help of her high-ranking Nazi lover, Coco Chanel attempted to oust her Jewish partners – who had fled German-occupied France and were operating the business from New Jersey – to take control of the highly-lucrative business.”