The Celebrity Factor in Perfumery Today {The 5th Sense in the News}

An article in the New York Times argues that perfumery is relying on the celebrity factor today more than ever, and not just regarding the creation of so-called "celebrity perfumes" launched under the names of stars from the showbusiness like Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Justin Bieber or Keith Urban, to name just a very few. Perfumers have also become more glamorized and are stepping more and more into the limelight...

We pointed out earlier that one of the problems faced by perfumery is its "facelesness", hence the wish, in our case, to have recourse to a visual pendant, films, to avoid totally falling into abstraction. It's an intrinsic problem to the nature of perfumery which was masterfully intuited by Shakespeare when he wrote about "strange invisible perfumes" and might explain the need to over-compensate with images.

The article suggests that the most novel twist to emerge in this relationship of perfumery to celebrity is the celebrity as an invisible presence, a new type wishing to retain anonymity yet nurturing the birth of a perfume through his or her advice.

You might say it's all about true charisma rather than show.

“Niche is becoming crowded and you start seeing so many stratas in the category,” ... “And just because it’s niche, however special the packaging, doesn’t mean it’s a good quality perfume or something truly different.”

In a new marketing ploy, some celebrities are trying anonymity. Mr. Le Greves recently partnered with one, whom he refused to identify, on Thirdman, a unisex fragrance line now at Bergdorf Goodman. The scents are fresh, light and meant to be splashed on liberally.

“He was really involved in the development,” Mr. Le Greves said of the mystery collaborator. “Things were done by intercom. It was like ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ ”

Read more at Celebrity Perfumes get Competition