Fragrance's Boom Cools as Outsiders Pile Into Perfume
Contrapposto, a three-year-old LA aesthetics clinic, launches fragrance over skincare as Givaudan diversifies and wardrobing reshapes how consumers buy perfume.
Updated
The takeaway
- Contrapposto, a three-year-old Los Angeles aesthetics clinic, chose fragrance over moisturisers and serums for its first product range.
- Givaudan executives are confident in their fragrance business but are diversifying into makeup and skincare as perfume growth slows.
- Fragrance 'wardrobing' is taking off, and Madhappy's former head of branding says 'scents are the smartest investment for a new business.'
Contrapposto, a three-year-old aesthetics clinic based in Los Angeles, has skipped the obvious move into moisturisers and serums and launched its first product range in fragrance instead.
The decision belongs to co-founder Nick Axelrod-Welk, a former editor turned serial beauty entrepreneur. He dismissed the predictable path. "I could write the trend story with you — it would just be about med spa concepts launching skincare ranges, right?" he said.
His bet comes at a turning point for the category. Business of Fashion reports that as consumer sentiment begins to dampen, the perfume industry's explosive growth looks headed for a slowdown.
Suppliers are already positioning for the shift. Executives at Givaudan, the Swiss fragrance and flavours firm, remain confident in the strength of their business. Even so, they are diversifying into makeup, skincare and other categories to prepare.
The slowdown is not deterring newcomers. Beauty brands, major conglomerates and indie labels all see perfume as an opportunistic venture for growth, according to BoF's analysis. The question the report poses is blunt: can new scents and players break through as category sales moderate?
One argument for entering anyway is behavioural. Fragrance "wardrobing" — consumers building collections of multiple scents rather than buying a single signature perfume — is taking off, BoF reports. That habit expands the number of purchase occasions per customer and softens the risk of launching yet another bottle into a crowded field.
The wardrobing trend has drawn in operators from outside traditional beauty. The former head of branding at Madhappy, the aspirational sweatshirt brand, argues the case in commercial terms. "Scents are the smartest investment for a new business," he told BoF. He is now making one himself.
The pattern cuts across business models. An aesthetics clinic founded three years ago, a streetwear marketing veteran and a flavours-and-fragrance giant with roots in Switzerland all arrive at the same conclusion: perfume still looks like the fastest route to growth in beauty.
What separates the entrants is timing and category exposure. Givaudan hedges by widening its portfolio beyond scent. Axelrod-Welk hedges by choosing a category with less direct competition from peers like Contrapposto. The Madhappy alum treats scent itself as the hedge — a low-cost entry point relative to skincare development.
The stakes are rising for all of them. If the forecast slowdown holds, fragrance in 2025 and beyond will reward brands that can convert wardrobing behaviour into repeat purchases before sentiment weakens further. BoF's reporting suggests the window for easy category growth is narrowing, and the next wave of launches will compete for a shrinking pool of incremental spend.
Source: Business of Fashion
Rebecca Stone
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Market editor covering media and advertising at Eurasian Beauty Journal.
