The drift into the corporate mainstream by some of the older niche brands always creates the risk of a possible (or rather probable?) diminishing of innovation and creativity as a result: Tom Ford, L'Artisan Parfumeur, Penhaligon's, Le Labo, Diptyque, you name it... We're therefore experiencing niche 2.0 with newer artisan and indie brands. Creed is the latest brand to be sold to a large luxury group, to Kering to be specific.
Creed was a family business with a disputed past into fragrance making (the history of the Creed fragrance brand as examined for inconsistencies is laid bare in this piece I wrote). In short, Creed is a Paris-based perfume house renowned for its self-styled history and the unquenchable thirst for name-dropping. It has been possible to find and acquire in garage sales and collectors' catalogues perfumes created by Guerlain, Chanel, Caron, etc. worldwide. Yet it proved virtually impossible to find specimens of a Creed fragrance prior to the '70s.