Creed’s Amber Collection Breaks New Olfactive Ground
Creed is entering heady new territory with its newest collection.
The Kering-owned fragrance house — which the French fashion and beauty conglomerate purchased for an estimated $1.5 billion in 2023 — is introducing the Amber Universe, a collection composed of two fragrances. Prices range from $400 for 50 ml to $565 for 100 ml.
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The two scents debut Wednesday in-store at Creed boutiques, and roll out Sept. 4 at Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Holt Renfrew in Canada, as well as other global markets.
Industry sources estimate the collection to reach $30 million in retail sales for its first year on the market globally.
Alexandre Choueiri, president and chief executive officer of Kering Beauté Americas, didn’t comment on the estimates, but did see significant opportunity with the launches.
“The amber category is a very big category in the Americas, as well as the rest of the world,” Choueiri said. “The two fragrances complement each other with different facets of amber.”
Centaurus, named for one of the largest constellations in the sky, boasts key notes of tobacco, sandalwood and bourbon vanilla from Madagascar. Delphinus, also named for a constellation, highlights incense, orris and bourbon vanilla from Madagascar.
“Our most requested fragrances are Aventus, which is on the woody side, and Millésime Impérial, which is very fresh. The new two are in a family where we generally have been a bit more shy,” Choueiri said.
The brand is pulling all the marketing levers to coincide with the launch. “When Creed came out with this idea of having two fragrances inspired by constellations, I thought it was a different and very nice way to engage with our consumers,” Choueiri said. “We’re going to have pop-ups in our best department stores and our boutique windows.”
To boot, there’s more than 272,000 samples spread across the products’ retail footprint and a collector’s box with both fragrances sold at Creed boutiques and select Neiman Marcus doors.
“We do have a very strong direct channel,” Choueiri said of the distribution strategy. “The boutiques are where Creed really comes to life, you have the history of the brand and all of the Creeds in some of them. Customers can come, sit down and be entertained. It’s not a product-centric brand, it’s a customer-centric brand, and the product always comes after the customer.”
Choueiri said that Creed is still outpacing the growth in luxury fragrances. In the first half, fragrance was the fastest-growing category of prestige beauty, with a gain of 12 percent. “It’s the leading brand in what we call haute parfumerie, and the mission remains to elevate it long-term as a business,” Choueiri said of Creed. “We mix our own ingredients, a lot of them are sourced with direction relationships to the farmers. The beauty of the brand is that things take a little bit more time, and it creates exclusivity.”
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