With its new L’Atelier collection of seven women’s fragrances, Parfums Givenchy is launching its most high-end olfactive offer to date “The idea was really to combine our dual heritage — in the haute couture field and the one we have with fragrances,” said Thierry Maman, global president of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned house.
The Givenchy fashion archives were mined and seven dresses, dating from 2005 to 2011, were chosen for inspiration — one per fragrance Givenchy perfume expert Françoise Donche oversaw the scents’ development, which involved Firmenich’s Pierre Négrin for Oud Flamboyant, Symrise’s Alexis Dadier for Ambre Tigré, Takasago’s Françoise Caron for Bois Martial, Firmenich’s Nathalie Lorson for Cuir Blanc, International Flavors & Fragrance’s Sophie Labbé for Néroli Originel, and Symrise’s Emilie Coppermann for Ylang Austral.
Each scent has its own olfactive bent. Chypre Caresse, for instance, includes notes of lemon, jasmine, angelica and patchouli. Meanwhile, Ylang Austral has mandarin leaf, ylang-ylang and sandalwood notes, and Cuir Blanc, notes of white pepper, musk and leather Every fragrance’s bottle has a different color of silken thread encircling its neck, resembling a bobbin, and that tucks behind the label showing the scent’s name.
“We will add new fragrances every year to the line to make it live,” said Maman L’Atelier is to be introduced in extremely tight distribution. It will come out first exclusively in Harrods in the U.K. on Sunday, followed by a launch in Sephora’s Paris flagship on April 3 and Saks Fifth Avenue in the U.S. on April 16. Also in April, La Rinascente in Florence and Moscow’s GUM are to begin selling the scent collection.
“You have one or two points of sale per country,” said Maman, adding overall the line should be sold in approximately 40 to 50 doors globally Each 100-ml. eau de parfum L’Atelier spray will retail in France for 170 euros, or $234 at current exchange Givenchy executives would not discuss sales figures, but industry sources estimate the new collection will ring up $4 million in first-year retail revenues worldwide.