we look forward to Pitti Immagine Fragranze where we will do more short videos with the influentials and creatives of the perfumery world....

Hi to all, the team behind Perfumism! Very interesting project, I'll check it regularly because it explores issues I'm passionately interested in.

I was in Milan few days ago, for Esxence Exhibition. And I was impressed by how many brands define themselves "niche" only because it's trendy (and trendy means lucrative), with no manifesto or aesthetic vision behind them. I hate to say this, but I can understand them (not justify, onlyunderstand): the international financial crisis is obliging consumers to be more careful about how they spend their money, and cosmetic industry is performing badly since 3-4 years. In this scenario, niche perfumery is the only growing sector of cosmetics: until year 2009 it showed a 2-digit, steady grow in Italy and I can figure the same abroad. If I were an entrepreneur, it's in the niche sector that I'd invest my money. But of course, to be given the "niche" appellation  I'd need to position my products in a certain segment of the market, I'd need to be present at the right exhibitions and I'd have to write my press-aimed blablah in a certain way... Ok, few people will be unconvinced, but I can focus on consumers who will buy my perfumes just because they're niche...after all they're not different from brands' lovers who buy a perfume just because there's "X" label on it.

I think it's not that niche is degenerating: talented authors are still working in it;  is that other kind of business are getting  hold of the niche sector, and thus revolutionizing it and making difficult to understand the general rules of the game and the players. We even don't know how to define it anymore!
Dont' like the word "niche"? Try call them "parfum d'auteur" and swarms of new "auteurs" will appear;  call them "selective" and selective will be the new way to communicating fragrances. Since the landscape you described so well is very varied (perfumers working for industry, independent perfumers, Ellenas working for industry, Ellenas working for themselves, Ellenas working for niche brands etc), do we really need to  name it with a single word? I mean a new name will define this field just up to the point where it turns economically successful. When the industry -or simply clever businessmen who wish to establish a successful business- arrive, they will hold of that name, use it their way and change the contest.  
I think that even if you should name this kind of perfumery "Lousy perfumery" industry will find a way to make "Lousy" a charming definition -as long as it's financially successful-  in order to start introducing their own new products and start gaining money.
Of course, I'm not sure of anything, just do keep this interesting discussion open...
© Marika Vecciattini, Owner of the blog Bergamotto e Benzoino.

Editorial comment: Uploaded by Marika as comment on the perfumery section, March 31 2010. Converted to a blog entry, in agreement with Marika Vecciattini, by Andy Tauer, April 7 2010.

Yesterday, I was following a debate on niche on one of my favorite blogs and I got basically depressed right after the first comments. It felt a bit like being a preacher, trying to make folks believe and understand for years that there are different ways of constructing perfumes. That it makes a difference how you build a perfume, how you compose it and interact with the material. Is the perfumer allowed to follow a vision? This is not dependent on the size of the distribution  but it is about passion and fever and freedom and courage to innovate. On all levels.

I have discussed this issue with perfume friends, also from industry. In my opinion, it all boils down to missing courage and marketing and money making issues. Or like an insider mailed me the other day "So many perfumers are really demotivated because they are treated like battery chicken, churning out GLC twists all day long.."

Shorthand -if you want-there is no excuse for not finding "WOW perfumes" at Macy's.

And by the way: From time to time you do.

Author: Andy Tauer

 
Andy : "so this came right in time. I had no idea. But I guess it just needed to happen. I wonder now: Please tell us what you think about the manifesto?"
Rebecca: "It's very clear. We want to consider good perfumes are pieces of art, we want to give perfume its lettre de noblesse back. We want to teach people what real perfumery is. That's what I call  "réenchanter le parfum".

Andy: "Olala, I love French, and I love the word réenchanter le parfum. "Die Wiederbezauberung des Parfums", the re-mystification of perfume... This is so lovely!
I hope we will do our part to "réenchanter le parfum" with perfumism in the coming months.  Where do you see perfumism as a website and a movement in a year from now?"
Rebecca: "I hope we'll have lots of readers who will be able to understand the world of perfumery better and we can interact with them. I hope it doesn't become too intelectual so it stays open and clear. "
 
Andy: "To inspire others to dream their fragrant world and on a totally different note: If you could terraform Mars. How would you engineer it from a fragrant point of view?"
Rebecca:"Ok probably because of the color, red. I immediatly thought of the discontinued Feu d'Issey. The second thought was fire... "

I was troubled because I realized the longer the more that there is no distinction made between artisanal perfumery, low volume artistic perfumery and a mass market perfumery. Low volume perfumery for me means: small batches, little number of bottles produced (not hundred thousand), products crafted with high end, top notch materials, with care.

Don’t get me wrong here: There are truly NICE smelling perfumes out there, produced by the millions. And there is nothing wrong with that. There are not enough jasmine flowers blooming to accomodate an entire perfume lovers' forum with a fragrance whose heart is full of jasmine absolute.

For those of you who still dream the reverie of Chanel number x being affected by IFRA’s regulation on Jasmine (Link: Ifra recommends not to exceed about 1%  in the final product, category 6) and blooming fields of Jasmine in Grasse: Keep on dreaming. This is folklore.

Thus, it is not about nice smelling perfumes or not. It is about style and expression. Perfumes can be more than nice. They can tell stories. Of course, some may only want to smell something nice. There is nothing wrong with this. But then: Don’t expect more.

Perfumes can be innovation. They can make you dream. They can be a sculpture where you feel the artist’s soul. A perfume can be a statement where a creator tells you something about the way she sees the world. It can be a statement where the creator shows you a new way to see the fragrant world.

I got angry a while ago because I realized that some want to make us believe that their (mass market and top notch marketing) products are exactly this: dreams and artistry.

And I have realized that so many dance happily their folklore dance and clap their hands like in a Bavarian beer tent, not realizing that the tent is all plastic and the music is from a CD player and the band is just pretending to play. Thus, I wanted to make a statement. Stop it right here and there!

I was thinking and discussing with friends: How can I mutate my indignation into something positive. For the moment we are three who can write here on perfumism whatever we want. All three of us in the board have editor rights on perfumism. And you can write, too. You can do so on the shout box, or by commenting. We are looking into more ways to open up discussions further.
I hope that we can tell stories and build interest on true perfumery. Ultimately, perfumism might change into some sort of association.

We will see.

It is now more than a year that I work on this. Perfumism has become something like a secret passion for me and Elena and Rebecca. Hours, days, months have passed and now the site is finally live. We haven't told anyone so far. Thus, today it is live, online, visible to the world, *hello world*, yet we can still play for us without any observers.

I remember discussions on my other blog on perfumery about niche and art, thinking about other terms that fit better. Kick-started by exhibitions where niche was said to be a focal point, I am finally here, at the starting point, of something new and exciting, collaborative and driven by the quest to move.

I am finally here, and I can make a statement. I am not niche.

And now, we will start inviting others to join us. We are not many, but we are the few who will make a difference. That's what perfumism is about: Making a difference in the world of perfumes.

We welcome any contribution that fits with the world of PERFUMism.

You may also use the shout box for your everyday thoughts on perfumery, and how you feel about things happening here and in the world of perfumes.

A word on netiquette: Thank you for not multiposting your comments, not cross-posting, posting off-topics, sending discussions off this blog, or hijacking discussions. We appreciate controversial discussions, but will stricktly enforce netiquette rules by deleting inappropriate comments.