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Agence France-Presse

Their producers do not advertise and they are largely unknown to the general public, but niche perfumes are able to command prices in the hundreds of US dollars from men and women seeking to stand out.
Produced in small batches with high-quality, natural or rare ingredients, niche perfumes are becoming big business even while retaining their exclusive nature.
“We’ve had absolutely incredible growth,” says Julien Sausset, director of Parfums de Marly, a France-based niche fragrance producer.
The company posted more than 50 per cent sales growth in 2023 and expects more than 40 per cent growth this year, to US$600 million in sales.

“People don’t want to smell like others any more. They want to free themselves, affirm their identity,” says Sausset.
Producers use high concentrations of unconventional ingredients to give their perfumes unique and complex scents, such as amber, bergamot, cedarwood, pink peppercorn or rhubarb.
Niche perfumes account for 10 to 12 per cent of the overall market, according to Sausset.
It is a sector likely to continue to expand, as sales are growing at 13 per cent per year while those of mass market perfumes are growing by between three and five per cent.
Present in more than 80 countries, Parfums de Marly does most of its business in the United States, where a small bottle will set you back at least US$250.

It plans to open a boutique in Paris near the Champs-Elysées in a neighbourhood known as the Golden Triangle for its high concentration of luxury shops.
“What is important is to have a place where you can have your own salespeople do some storytelling and present the products,” Sausset says.
The brand was created in 2009 by Julien Sprecher, an aficionado of the 18th century, when modern perfumery was created.
The name comes from the Chateau de Marly near the French commune of Versailles, where Louis XV – king of France from 1715 to 1774 – was known to throw lavish parties.
Niche perfumes tap into that sense of luxury. Julie El Ghouzzi, who wrote a book on the luxury industry, says the sector developed in reaction to the popularisation of perfumes in the 1990s, when many brands seemed to resemble one another.

Some perfumers wanted to do something different, to “blow up the notion of masculine and feminine, and developed perfumes around high-end ingredients, using the names of these ingredients and not brands”, she says.
These independent perfumers “didn’t have the money to order custom bottles, so they used rectangular ones for all their perfumes. And it worked,” says El Ghouzzi.
Their success drove luxury houses like Dior and Cartier to imitate them with simple bottles to signal the product was niche, she adds.
This “bottle code” has changed somewhat, with some perfumers now adopting more creative bottles, but beauty products giant L’Oreal still uses it for its niche perfumes.
Yet while the bottle signals to consumers a difference, it is what is inside that sets them apart.

“When a consumer pays €400 [US$415] for a bottle of orange blossom perfume, it is in our interest to use top-quality orange blossoms in high concentrations,” says Karine Lebret, L’Oreal’s global vice-president for scent science and fragrance design.
“There isn’t a top brand without its niche perfume today,” says Eric Briones, who wrote a book about luxury and Generation Z – people born between 1995 and the early 2010s.
He says the Chinese market and Gen Z customers particularly like niche perfumes in contrast to other luxury goods.
Then there is the ultra niche of bespoke perfumes.
Sylvaine Delacourte, who previously created perfumes for Guerlain, now has her own line of perfumes but also offers to create made-to-order fragrances.
A two-hour meeting is set up with customers to take a “trip in their olfactory memory”. After that, a unique fragrance is created over several months.
The price: €20,000 for two litres.


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Perfumes from Parfums de Marly, a niche perfume brand, in Paris. Niche perfumes are booming and even more growth is predicted. Photo: AFP

Perfumes from Parfums de Marly, a luxury and niche perfume brand, in its Paris boutique. Photo: AFP

A Parfums de Marly boutique in Paris. Parfums de Marly was created in 2009. Photo: AFP

Present in more than 80 countries, Parfums de Marly does most of its business in the United States. Photo: AFP

Perfumes from Parfums de Marly in Paris. Photo: AFP

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Fashion & Beauty

Niche perfumes are booming, especially among Chinese and Gen Z customers, and even more growth is predicted. Experts explain why


Niche perfumes are booming, especially among Chinese and Gen Z customers, and even more growth is predicted. Experts explain why.


Beauty