‘In a world of niches, we are enchained by our own consumer preferences.’- Mark Fisher

If you’re reading this, I assume you are well aware of the rabbit-hole that is perfumery. Perhaps you are already lost in the sea of fragrance choices that are available to you or you have just dipped your toes in and are about to find out how deep the pond is.

When I first started this hobby a couple of years ago, I had no inkling of the amount of brands and fragrances. Even after several years of investing daily (unhealthy amounts) of time into this hobby, I keep discovering brands, ‘must-try’ fragrances and struggle to keep track of the constant wave of new releases.

BOOMING BUSINESS

For context: The niche fragrance industry is projected to grow to over 7 billion dollar by 2028. The total fragrance market was valued at over 50 billion dollar in 2022. The amount of reported niche perfume launches has seen a steady massive rise (as documented by the wonderful Michael Edwards in his Fragrances Of The World quarterly insights).

1992 – 21 niche releases
2002 – 100 niche releases
2013 – 331 niche releases
2020 – 1217 niche releases

Covid may have put a temporary brake on that meteoric rise. I don’t have the numbers, but it feels like 2023 is the first year fully back on track, with no slowing down in sight.

WHAT’S NICHE?

Which begs the question: What is ‘niche’? The Cambridge dictionary defines it as ‘An area or position that is exactly suitable for a small group of the same type’.

In perfumery niche has many connotations that have become so confusing and muddled. Everyone has their own interpretation to an extent where the term has lost its value. Part of the reason I’m writing this article (read: rant-like stream of consciousness) is to remind myself to stop using the designer vs. niche terminology as often as I do in my own reviews. Part is keeping the ‘newcomers’ in the community in mind, who seem to have a handful of vital questions on their mind: ‘How does this fragrance perform?’, ‘Does it get many compliments?’ ‘Do you think it’s worth the money?’, but also ‘Is this considered niche or designer?’.

BRAND IDENTITY

‘Niche’ was introduced to me as ‘the brands that exclusively create fragrances’ or at least, for fragrances to be a brand’s main area of expertise. By that definition, Guerlain & Kilian, who have long since expanded heavily into make-up & beauty products, might not fit the bill any longer. Creed started as tailoring company and there are many houses that are generally labeled ‘niche’ that originate in fashion (Zaharoff and Marc-Antoine-Barrois come to mind, Costume National and more recently Dries van Noten).

It seems to me an outdated and rudimentary way of categorizing brands based on a level of diversification. Which says nothing of value about their level of expertise in perfumery. This is especially true considering that most brands (owned by clothes makers, influencers or candle makers alike) use a hired perfumer’s expertise and pick from the same pool of perfumers, that use ingredients from the same oil houses, as the ‘real niche’ brands anyway.

SCENT PROFILE

More seasoned fragrance enthusiasts i.e. traditionalists have pointed me towards the idea of ‘niche scent profiles’. There are definitely brands that push the boundaries, creating eccentric, unique and with that, sometimes less mass appealing fragrances. In a lot of cases this pertains independent perfumers or small houses, that only take up a minuscule piece of the projected 7 billion dollar pie mentioned above. There are exceptions of brands that are relatively known that boast less ordinary scent-profiles, but in a lot of cases those brands can either fall back on 1-2 popular releases or have gradually become more and more mass-appealing over time (a ‘criticism’ often heard in relation to Amouage and Zoologist for example). Some others have not stood the test of time or are too small to be available in large parts of the world, so pick your poison.

THE CRUX

By definition niche and mass-appeal don’t seem to be compatible; it’s an oxymoron at best. And many ‘niche’ brands realize this all too well. One by one the bigger, reputable houses are falling in line with the same marketing tactics (flankers & limited editions) and often with similarly mass-appealing fragrances that can be found in the designer ranks. And, if successful enough, one by one, they are vacuumed in by the big conglomerates like LVMH & Estee Lauder, who are nearing complete control over the fragrance industry (side note: At what point is that considered questionable in regards to price fixing? The oil houses Firmenich, Givaudan, IFF & Symrise are currently under investigation by antitrust agencies on suspicion of upholding a monopoly).

That being said; it’s not surprising that smaller brands are following in those footsteps. This article is not a criticism, because ultimately, a brand can only exist by appealing to enough to people to stay viable.

I’ve sampled a couple thousand fragrances now and can safely say that a lot of niche brands currently do not make scents that are appealing to a smaller ‘niche’ than a lot of designer brands. In fact, based on my (admittedly limited) experience with designer fragrances pre…let’s say 1990, I’d say that good chunk of the contemporary niche releases are more crowd-pleasing and safe than what those older designer releases would be considered as in today’s market.

AVAILABILITY

In recent years (and I think this trend is still in its infancy) the physical location of niche has seen a shift into the public eye as well. A third definition of niche that people seem to hold on to is availability, which I agree with for the most part.

While it is of course true that there are a handful of big designer brands more readily available in most places; I’ve found that getting my hands on many designers fragrances and especially samples proved to be harder than it was to try niche fragrances. Many niche brands rely more heavily on the online market and offer samples and discovery sets more often (I’ll save my rant about the cost of sampling for another time). Besides, aside from a few big hits, designer releases completely disappear from stores quicker than an avocado ripens after you buy it, making sampling them impossible and you’re left with the option to blindly buy them off discounters.

Meanwhile, niche stores in my area (the Netherlands) have become more common, with some franchising happening (Skins). Moreover, I’ve seen an increase of niche brands making their way into the traditionally designer-filled stores as well; this was more common in Sephora or in Paris, but only recently, I’ve seen it happen around my way as well.

I expect to see more niche brands with a cult-like following or a trendy, modern identity (think Kayali, Byredo, Ex Nihilo, D.S. & Durga) or eye-catching, flashy (sometimes gaudy) packaging (Xerjoff, The House Oud, Tiziana Terenzi) to make their way into the Sephora’s of the world more and more in coming years. As well as a continuation of the trend of niche brands having exclusive releases for stores like Harrods, Selfridges & Harvey Nichols and area-exclusives, especially for the Middle East (as we see from brands like Diptyque, Matiere Premiere, Maison Crivelli and even Guerlain).

TARGET AUDIENCE

The last definition is the one that I’ve been propagating. As the aforementioned ways of looking at niche have lost a lot of their meaning for me, I’ve viewed niche more closely to the dictionary definition: Niche speaks to a specific, ‘small’ group of people. Niche can, in my view, only ever pertain to a target audience, not to a brand or product on its own merit. It’s all about intent.

By that definition, the intent to ‘grow big’ and have a booming industry, is as mentioned, a paradox. At best you can try to make a non-mass appealing scent mass-appealing for the first time, but it won’t be niche anymore once it succeeds in doing so.

By that definition, half of emerging ‘niche’ brands are simply less successful brands with the same intent and strategy as the bigger brands under the LVMH umbrella. This is a ‘criticism’ I most often hear in regards to Parfums de Marly, but in reality, it applies to hundreds of brands that transitioned into more generic releases (sometimes tucked away in a new separate collection) or have fragrances in their line-up that smell awfully close to the big hits (Baccarat Rouge & Aventus being the most obvious targets).

By that definition price and availability come back into play. A generic, mass-appealing fragrance for €1000 is targeting a niche audience, simply because of its price. Lower-priced niche fragrances (Guerlain has a lot for example, like my beloved Homme EDP), that smell mass appealing and can be found in most ‘designer’-stores reach a wide audience.

Meanwhile designer brands have been doing the opposite. Launching their exclusive lines (Maison Christian Dior, Armani Prive, Tom Ford Private Blend), that are harder to find and priced in a way that rules out a broader audience.

Now, who can differentiate the more affordable lines from the higher-end lines when smelled blindfolded? Or the mass-appealing niche brand from the less successful designer releases? The affordable, Sephora ‘niche brand’ versus the €500 designer exclusive line? Spoiler: We can’t (and the always fun to watch ‘niche or designer’ drinking games on YouTube support my case.). We can discern quality, but the monikers given to the brands or fragrances are not always a reliable indication.

(NO) CONCLUSION

It seems to increasingly come down to the idea of exclusivity more than anything else. The prices that some brand new, emerging niche brands set foot in the market with are staggering. And seemingly completely unfounded in anything, but a way to rank themselves among the others (luckily there are also brands averting this on purpose, for example Essential Parfums).

As a reviewer/influencer myself, in doing a lot of collaborations with brands, I’ve grown completely desensitized to the prices. And to be clear, brands should charge whatever they want or can charge. If you say that perfumery is art, then you can not say that the asking prize should be in line with the cost of ingredients; a painter doesn’t charge for the amount of paint used. That being said, recommending new releases at 200, 300. 400+ € without a second thought, when there are thousands of good, much more affordable fragrances available is something to be mindful of.

This is all generalized, but it crossed my mind more than a few times over the past years that the only thing that made a fragrance that I was smelling ‘niche’ was a highly inflated price. Presentation (packaging, bottle) comes into play as well, but more often than not, ‘all that glitters is not gold’. Many emerging brands prioritize looks over quality (side note: Can we at least get a pressurized atomizer for €350 please?).

So when I read articles about the niche-industry boom, what I see is the convergence of niche and designer brands. I see marketing working well. Are people all of a sudden more open to -and interested in exclusivity and eccentric scents? Or has (a part of) niche simply become less exclusive and less eccentric to drive the growth of the industry to the levels we’re seeing today. While the concept of being niche is being sustained mostly through marketing.

CONCLUSION ATTEMPT 2

Ultimately, fragrances appeal to many people, or only to a small group of people. Drawing lines between brands with a diverse range of releases and especially large groups of brands to land on one side of the fence or the other is futile. It has become a tedious and useless topic of discussion that keeps coming back in the fragrance community.

I have no answers and I applaud anyone of you that made it to the end of this dissertation.

I feel like ‘the industry’ really wants people to care about how niche they are, when in fact, trying to achieve the opposite. So maybe we shouldn’t care all that much and (especially as content creators) occasionally reflect on this fragrance classism we uphold.