Stella McCartney is eyeing a new generation of women and is dedicating a fragrance to them — a wake-me-up mix of tuberose and sandalwood called Pop. Aimed at Millennials, it’s a juice for young women who are “popping, and ready for the next phase,” said the designer. Pop will launch later this month in the U.S. at Sephora, Stella McCartney stores and online. The floral and woody fragrance created under license with P&G Prestige Beauty will roll out worldwide to 1,500 to 2,000 doors by July, and is set to generate $50 million in first-year retail sales, according to industry sources.
McCartney called Pop’s development “a massive personal project,” and added during an interview here that because she finds the next generation of women so inspiring, she wanted to give them “a voice and a fragrance.” The ad campaign features four models in their late teens and twenties, including the singer Claire Boucher, known as Grimes. The designer acted as artistic director of the campaign, which includes print and video, and she personally picked the four models. She plans to reveal the names of the remaining three via her brand’s social media channels over the next week. What unites them, according to McCartney, is personality, individuality and the ability to influence others in a positive way.
She said one reason she created Pop was because the industry largely talks to them “in a way that does not befit their intelligence, or their place in the world. These young women need to be encouraged and inspired, and they need to be represented in the world of beauty. Pop is hopefully saying something important. I’m interested to see how it’s taken,” McCartney said. The campaign, which will be fully revealed next week, is digitally led, and aimed at women who are buying fragrance for the first time — for themselves or for friends, according to Antoine Delgrange, global brand director of P&G Prestige Beauty. P&G Prestige and McCartney have also partnered with Snapchat for the first time, and plan to promote Pop on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #popnow.
The campaign was photographed by Glen Luchford, with a video created by the Grammy Award-winning director Melina Matsoukas. Shot in the California desert, the campaign revolves around a road trip. The fragrance itself was made using bio-mimicry technology: The lab re-created oils from tuberose buds in bloom and from the sandalwood tree. P&G said tuberose buds have a very low oil yield, while sandalwood is now an endangered species after years of being in high demand. Asked whether Pop was an effort to cultivate a new generation of fashion customers, McCartney said it was not.
“The styling point for this isn’t about who is buying my clothes or the demographic. I’m a mother of young girls, and I’ve encountered this next generation of girls in my everyday life. I’m more and more impressed by them, and very mindful of what they represent. It’s not a commercial approach at all for me, it’s an emotional one for sure.” The eau de parfum comes in a main 50-ml. size priced at 74 euros, or $80; a 30-ml. one for 54 euros, or $60, and a 100-ml. one at 98 euros, or $106. There will also be a body lotion, a shower gel and a 7.4-ml. rollerball fragrance dispenser. Figures have been converted to dollars at current exchange. Pop will also have a gifting element.
McCartney has created a capsule collection of products, including Falabella bags in seven new colors; iPhone cases in the shape of lips; a keychain, T-shirt, sunglasses, and a version of her lace-up platforms to sell alongside the fragrance in her stores and online. The clear glass bottle, with its faceted base, resembles an upside-down version of the Stella one. It also has a metallic pink, built-in spray cap. The cap’s design has been drawn from the medallion on McCartney’s signature Falabella bag. Pop is McCartney’s third fragrance. The first one, Stella, was unveiled in 2003. Two years ago the designer relaunched it under P&G Prestige Beauty, with new packaging and bottle sizes. Her second fragrance L.I.L.Y., which hit shelves in 2012, is no longer on the market.