PARIS — Prestige fragrance’s sweet smell of success wafted throughout 2024.
It constituted the fastest-growing beauty segment, with 7.4 percent gains during the year, according to Euromonitor International. That compares to a global beauty market expected to decelerate and end 2024 with a 4.5 percent to 5 percent increase, L’Oréal forecasts.
“Everyone wants to upgrade their fragrance wardrobe,” said Aishwarya Rajpara, senior research analyst for beauty and consumer health at Euromonitor International.
Brands have taken notice, with labels such as Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Valentino launching high-end fragrance collections this year.
Prestige perfume, especially niche, has been on investors’ radar, too, with 2024’s deals including Kering taking a minority stake in Matière Première, Eurazeo making a minority investment in Ex Nihilo, and Manzanita Capital acquiring a majority share in D.S. & Durga.
The category’s stellar performance came despite many consumers’ shrinking budgets — due to inflation and geopolitical issues — and the escalation of dupes.
The U.S. was the main geographic driver for perfume overall.
“Americans are heavy users. Their consumption of perfume is significantly higher than the global average,” said Sabrya Meflah, president of IFF’s fine fragrance business unit. “They have three to four fragrances, compared to the rest of the world, which is more two to three.”
In the U.S., there’s been a notable rise of young consumers in the 12- to 18-year-old bracket, particularly among males, with that age demographic owning four to five scents in different formats and categories, ranging from body mists to luxury fragrances. The age group tends to apply scent various times throughout a day.
“There is still a huge upside on the penetration levels,” said Jerry Vittoria, president, global fine fragrance at Dsm-Firmenich, of the U.S. The country’s definite slowdown has been noted, however.
The Middle East — especially Saudi Arabia, with its sophisticated perfume consumer keen on layering scents — is shining bright in the fragrance universe as well.
“Saudi came late out of COVID. They really suffered hard, and there was truly a huge bounce [afterward],” said Vittoria, adding: “They continue to bounce very high.
“The local brands becoming more international, that’s a new wave as well,” he continued.
For example, fragrances from the Middle East, a region traditionally known for its opulent scents, are taking off everywhere. “They’re really using beautiful, very rich quality materials, and not afraid to leverage that quality,” Vittoria said.
“Consumers are talking about [Arabian] perfumes and are very interested in them,” Meflah continued.
Also spurring the trend are influencers talking about perfume’s “power.”
Local fragrance brands are starting to globetrot like never before.
Photo by Noobiel / stock.adobe.com
But it’s not just fine fragrances coming out of the Middle East, such as by Amouage in Oman, having worldwide success. Examples from other countries include scents created by Sol de Janeiro in Brazil or Alchemist Fragrance in Indonesia.
“There is a lot of traction for that type of brand,” Meflah said.
Over in China, domestic fine perfume labels such as Beast, Scent Library and Boitown could globetrot one day.
The fragrance market is weak in that country, but “China is coming back,” Vittoria said. “You’re seeing a resurgence now. It’s going to take some time. The international players are starting to reinvest in launches there again, and the local players that were decimated — you see some shoots of activity again. I’m a firm believer in the market longer term.”
Many others are, too. In October, Givaudan unveiled its fine fragrance creative hub in Shanghai, which is meant to connect the Swiss supplier with Chinese brands in order to co-create perfumes.
“This is a unique opportunity for us to keep on growing in China,” said Xavier Renard, global head of fine fragrance at Givaudan, in a WWD interview in late October.
A decade ago, Chinese consumers preferred light scents, then they moved to heavier perfumes, including of the oud variety.
“Now it’s about: ‘Give me something I don’t know.’ They’re very open to newness,” Renard said.
In South Asia, India was in industry experts’ sights thanks to the dynamism of local players. The fragrance market remains difficult for international players to enter, however, because of tariffs.
“In 10 years, it’s going to be bigger than China,” Vittoria predicted. “In five years, it’s going to certainly grow in a very nice way.”
Follow Your Nose
Worldwide, the main olfactive trends during 2024 were amber, which gives long-lastingness to a scent; musk paired with aldehydes, orris or amber-y notes, and a “new gourmand,” with less sugary notes and often with inspiration from Asian confectionery, rather than the traditional sweet European confectionery. Among the micro-trends was the increasing concentration of perfumes, with many brands introducing “extrait” versions, according to Fragrances of the World.
Functional fine fragrances, giving emotional and cognitive benefits, were also launched this year. Last spring, for instance, Charlotte Tilbury came out with a collection of six scents developed with IFF’s proprietary technology meant to stir emotions, vibrations, actions and reactions.
There was a head-spinning number of perfume introductions around the globe this year. It is estimated that total fine perfume launches were about on a par with the amount registered in 2023, which was 3,314, according to Fragrances of the World data.
Product price fatigue has spurred a trend whereby some consumers have been purchasing smaller bottles.
“We have seen a really high growth coming from travel-size formats, especially in the premium fragrance category,” Rajpara said.
As consumers paid increasing attention to skin health, she noted: “Skin-ification is big in fragrances.” That’s caused more perfume claims such as “no alcohol” or “non-irritating.”
Concurrently, the demand for natural perfumes was significant, especially in the niche segment.
The fine fragrance category kept shape-shifting in various directions, yet remained resilient.
“Beauty in total is a little bit challenged this year, and certainly going into next year,” Vittoria said. “[But] I do see important growth [for fragrance] going forward.”
