Penhaligon's & L'Artisan Perfumeur: Niche Fragrance Brands Bought by Puig

I have tired of saying it: we're experiencing the end of niche. Niche was a marketing tool to grow companies and then sell them to the highest bidder. The sale of Editions de Frederic Malle and Le Labo last autumn to the Lauder Group is followed by the sale of British traditional house Penhaligon's (established in 1870 as they boast) and of French artsie proto-niche (well, at least when it was founded by Jean Laporte in the late 1970s) L'Artisan Parfumeur to the Spanish group of Puig.

Jenner Studio photo via archdaily

Puig is at least no LVMH....They do nevertheless cater to a more mainstream perfume portfolio: Carolina Herrera, Prada, Paco Rabanne, Valentino....but also Comme des Garcons, which is anything but conventional in their fragrances.

Two years ago I was complaining on L'Artisan Parfumeur losing the grip on niche. In fact actively seeking to distance itself from the Jean Laporte, Olivia Giacobetti, Anne Flipo and Jean Ellena past. They were commissioning hundreds (or so it seemed, at least) new fragrances on Bertrand Duchaufour and seemed to branch out. Now it's evident even to the most well-meaning why that was.

Penhaligon's (funnily enough employing the same indie perfumeur, the Mitsotakis of niche apparently) was following a similar trajectory, a markedly different business model than its small shop cutesy of its long past.

All the same it's another tombstone on niche perfumery. How much longer will Serge Lutens withhold after having bought his rights for handling his name from the Japanese giant Shiseido?

Valentino Perfumes Bought Out by Puig

Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera, Paco Rabanne, Lowe, Massimo Dutti, and Prada perfume sectors will be joined by Valentino perfumes under the umbrella of Spanish Fashion & Beauty Group Puig starting 1st of February 2011. The news of the international fragrance licence obtained (which will span many years) has been just announced right when the Wall Street Journal publishes an article about Procter&Gamble putting an end to their collaboration with the Italian brand named after the famous designer.

According to the WSJ the reason has been underachievement. "P&G produces a number of fragrances for Valentino, which is owned by U.K. based private-equity fund Permira. But sales never reached the heights of P&G's other fragrance licenses, including those with Gucci Group and Dolce & Gabbana, which last year launched a makeup line.[..]P&G wants to weed out underperforming brands to focus on its more competitive products. The company has been moving into luxury beauty products, including the expansion of skin care line SK-II and its acquisition of high-end men's grooming lines such as The Art of Shaving".

Created in 1960 by Valentino Garavani, the firm operates in 70 countries through a network of 1250 points of sale, of which 66 are stand-alone boutiques. Puig is no stranger to an illustrious past either tracing their history to 1914 when they began their operations in Barcelona and currently employiong 3500 employees turning out an impressive 1000 millions of euros in 2009.

Although at the moment of the WSJ announcement there was no official statement from either the P&G or the Puig side, we have just heard from both this very morning: According to Stefano Sassi, general director at Valentino, the choice to work with Puig had to do with "their experience on the luxe sector and their attachment to quality". Mr.Sassi went on to emphasize how important he considers not only Puig's prospective aid to reach the house's goals commercially, but also to cement the notoriety of Valentino fragrances on the market's consciousness. The move aims to extend the potential of Valentino products for long-time objectives and to consolidate its brand name, while Marc Puig, CEO of the group Puig adds that the acquisition of Valentino will enrich their portfolio with "an image that communicates a fantastic potential".
The crux of the matter is that Puig is much better to Valentino than P&G, due to their more glamorous and more beauty-oriented approach. The fragrances produced are not bad either, while there have been some concerns from perfumephiles over the treatment that P&G has reserved for some of their own brands, such as Jean Patou and their diminishing line of fragrances.

This latest move can only be indicative of a greater shift happening at the luxury market right now, as we had tentatively mentioned about the commotion at LVMH the other day, what with their perfumers talking up about perfumery restrictions at last and Tony Blair posing as a strong candidate for business counseling services to them in order to open up new markets. Which those markets will be and how sustainable the luxury sector will be in them is matter for discourse.

pic of Stefano Sassi of Valentino via fashiontimes.it