With her mother, business partner and brand consigliore Tina tending to her ailing father a few months ago, Jessica Simpson took charge of the boardroom at the Parlux Fragrances Inc. offices in New York, where her fragrance team had gathered to discuss what to call her upcoming scent. “We were just throwing out different ideas and different names, and I said, ‘Why don’t we do something with just my name?’ There has to be a way to just do that because we’re doing it in the rest of our business,” said Simpson, continuing, “It was a fun meeting because I got to have the reins, and I really got to control it and do what I wanted to do.”
And that’s how Jessica Simpson, the floral gourmand fragrance launching in August, was born. “When it’s just my name, my heart is definitely in it,” said Simpson. “There were things about this fragrance that took me to a different place. It was exciting. It’s more sophisticated. It’s a little mature.” The signature fragrance is more sophisticated and mature, and so is Simpson. Although her tabloid persona will no doubt always be a part of her, the days of Simpson’s “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica” — the MTV reality show that solidified her celebrity beyond music — are decidedly behind her.
Since she released her first fragrance under the Fancy franchise in 2008, she has entered her 30s, had two children (two-year-old daughter Maxwell and son Ace, who will turn one on June 30), settled down with fiancé and former professional football player Eric Johnson and expanded her brand, estimated to pull in some $1 billion in global sales annually across 32 categories. Industry sources believe the fragrance could boost the brand’s revenues by $20 million in its initial year on counter.