The Niche Fragrance Industry: A New Way to Stand Out
If you’ve ever bought a cologne, a perfume, or talked to your parents about theirs, you probably have heard about the big brands like Dior, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, and Guerlin. Fragrances manufactured and sold by brands such as these are called designer perfumes or colognes. They come from the major luxury companies, mainly fashion houses, that can be found in almost all important retail stores. These brands usually develop products along different main axes with fashion being the main one. Fragrances belong to the beauty department along with skincare and makeup; perfumes and colognes however occupy only a part of that sector as it is shared with other products which also contain fragrance such as shower gels, shampoos, body lotion, candles, deodorants, and many more. Perfumes and colognes are often profitable “by-products” that are launched to increase buying opportunities for customers and therefore increase revenue for the brand. Most of the time, fragrances only serve as accessories to the brand but in some cases, they become so popular and generate such an important revenue that they can become one of the, if not the main, product of choice.
The niche fragrance industry, formed during the late twentieth century, is a response to mass-market fragrances and designer colognes/perfumes overall. It opposed the conformity and mainstream identity that the industry had taken by inciting the creation of niche brands. The term “niche” refers to smaller, independent fragrance houses that focus solely on the creation of colognes and perfumes. Well-known niche houses included Maison Francis Kurdjian, BYREDO, Kilian, and many others.
To understand the difference and what categorizes a niche brand, we must look at the characteristics and goals of their respective corporations. Designer brands focus on creating more accessible fragrances in terms of price but also in terms of essence. They strive to reach and appeal to the most people, which explains why these fragrances have become more and more uniform throughout the previous decades. They have all concluded that a selective set of ingredients mixed yields the best results. These brands differentiate themselves using mass marketing strategies rather than the actual substance of the product.
On the contrary, niche houses focus on their brand’s creativity, quality, and uniqueness to appeal. These corporations put all their efforts into choosing their ingredients, writing the story behind the fragrances, and building the identity of their brand in order to attract a loyal and interested fan base. Most of the time, the limited resources they have prevents them from being able to advertise on a scale anywhere close to that of designer brands but it is not their priority either way. For these fragrances to become profitable, they only need to appeal to certain groups within society compared to designer brands who need to appeal to millions of people. Following this identity, niche fragrances are usually more expensive due to their focus on quality and increased specificity — leading to a lower quantity of products manufactured. Although revenue remains an important aspect, the creation of niche fragrances is a lot more multifaceted. Risks are taken and the companies know that the colognes/perfumes will be a hit for some demographics and a miss for others.
The difference between designer fragrances and niche fragrances stems from their brands and their respective goals. Niche colognes/perfumes must differentiate themselves from their mainstream counterparts; they use higher quality ingredients and focus their efforts on the actual concoction. They must justify the higher price with a product of not only high quality but that certain specific customers will be able to identify with.
The niche fragrance industry has grown tremendously since the 1980s and was worth around 2.9 billion USD in 2022 while the overall fragrance industry was worth 50 billion USD at the same time. But it doesn’t stop there. Experts say that by 2028, it will have more than doubled and will be worth 6.2 billion USD. Niche colognes/perfumes have even been in the rankings for bestsellers worldwide. In 2022, the most sold fragrance worldwide was the Baccarat Rouge 540 by Maison Francis Kurdjian, a niche brand that has been around for fifty years. It dethroned the industry titans like Dior and Celine which had dominated the rankings during the previous decades. In fifth after Sauvage by Dior, №5 by Chanel, and Miss by Dior, another niche fragrance, Aventus by Creed, was a huge success.
They had gradually been gaining in popularity and recognition but it was a shock that they managed to rank that well. This trend however is not out of the blue, while designer clothes are worn for social recognition, people do not wish to do the same with fragrances. They want their personality reflected and their identity transmitted through their fragrance choices. The safe option that L’Homme by Yves Saint Laurent once was has become too generic. The massive consumerist culture that has evolved leads to people seeking their individuality through manners of expression such as fragrances. A contributing factor to this growing market is the increased use of technology and more specifically social media. Many of these houses create their accounts to share their creations. They also partner with influencers who have grown accustomed to a certain product and are willing to promote it. The Baccarat Rouge 540 for example received a total of 100 million views on Tik Tok in 2022 which partly explains its major success.
This growing need for fragrances to complement one’s own style and the facility of sharing information through the use of technology resources has intensified the growing market of niche fragrances around the world. Designer companies will need to diversify their fragrance production if they are willing to continue performing well in the cologne/perfume industry overall or they will have to accept their fragrance products as secondary purchase goods for customers who are less selective and are not willing to spend amounts of money comparable to that of niche fragrances. However, if you are looking for an accessory to differentiate yourself and add character to your person, buying a niche fragrance can be one of the best ways to do so.
