Yahoo Movies John Richmond Introduces Unknown Pleasures Fragrances
MILAN — John Richmond has launched Unknown Pleasures, an olfactory collection of four genderless fragrances.
Developed under license with Parma, Italy-based perfume company Italart Co. and hitting stores today, the line makes for a higher positioned offering compared with the usual fragrance catalogue of the brand. The perfumes also cover different olfactory families — ranging from citrusy to woody — and can be layered for a customized experience.
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The line includes “Acid Bomb,” combining Mediterranean citrus fruits and spices; “Secret Woods,” blending fresh bergamot and black pepper with a Brandy accord; “Hidden Amber,” mixing incense with floral notes, and “Lost Rose,” spotlighting the Turkish rose as key ingredient.
Master perfumers involved in the project included Jordi Fernandez for the creation of “Acid Bomb” and “Lost Rose,” Veronique Nyberg for “Secret Woods” and Guillaume Flavigny for “Hidden Amber.”
Coming in the same geometrical, black flacons, each scent bears a differently colored metallic ring on the cap, engraved with the brand’s logo. Retailing at 110 euros each for a single, 100-ml. format, the fragrances will be available at selected perfumeries as well as at John Richmond stores and e-commerce.
“Strategically, the shared goal with the brand was to expand the offering, including in the three-year development plan a limited, high-range line to position the fragrances also in the luxury and niche segment of the beauty world,” said Italart Co. chief executive officer Alberto Tanzi, adding that the rollout plan will involve 500 doors in Europe.
Along with a strong focus on the domestic market, the company will also target Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with particular attention to Arab countries. Rollout in China and the U.S. will follow in a second phase of the launch, as Italart Co. is to close further distribution deals in these countries by the end of the year and the first months of 2023.
The “Unknown Pleasures” collection follows the Black Metal Woman scent, which John Richmond launched with Italart Co. last fall, after the two signed a licensing agreement. The preexisting John Richmond For Men fragrance, launched in 2010, and its For Woman counterpart continue to be distributed by the company, too.
“We chose to keep in the brand’s portfolio only two of the most representative products of the brand,” Tanzi said. As part of the new offering, the executive said “there’s a final phase of this first part of brand extension scheduled for October 2022,” when the Black Metal for men will be introduced in the assortment.
Tanzi declined to provide both company’s 2021 sales figures and projections on estimated sales for the new John Richmond fragrances, pointing to the recent nature of the licensing deal with the brand. Still, he said he is “very satisfied” as “the market’s reaction has been positive and the forecasted [number] of estimated orders has tripled, so we expect a good performance from this launch, too.”
Founded in 1954 by Attilio Tanzi and redubbed Italart in 1984 by his son Roberto, the company is run by the third generation of the family and also develops and distributes fragrances for other local players, including Battistoni and Roccobarocco. Last month, the firm signed a five-year deal with denim and casualwear company Fashion Box for the beauty license of its Replay brand. This partnership will also kick off this month with the launch of Replay’s line of natural body fragrances “Earth Made.”
John Richmond is operated by Arav Group, which controls the Marcobologna and Silvian Heach brands, too. The group acquired a controlling stake in the fashion house founded by the British designer, who still holds the role of creative director, in 2017. Sales of the John Richmond brand were not disclosed, but Arav Group reported a turnover of about 40 million euros in 2021.
The fragrance launch adds to the effervescent moment the John Richmond brand is experiencing. Earlier this year, the company introduced a capsule collection with Playboy as well as announced its collaboration with cryptocurrency provider Shiba Inu, one of the key players in the blockchain-enhanced ecosystem, for the launch of an NFT-based fashion collection in fall.
Called John Richmond x Shib, as in the name of the meme cryptocurrency issued by Shiba Inu, the collection will include 10,000 non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Physical counterparts to the NFTs will then be paraded on the John Richmond runway during the upcoming Milan Fashion Week, slated to run Sept. 20 to 26. Titled “Legends Live Forever,” the show will unveil a see now, buy now collection, which will be immediately available at the brand’s Milan and Shanghai flagship stores, as well as on its e-commerce and at select e-tailers.
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