With Bleu de Chanel as an official winner in France, UK and USA, the fragrance industry showed its incapacity to reinvent its present for a brighter future. The hypocrisy of the official complains ("people don't buy perfumes any more", "there are too many launches") got the right answer in Paris and New York.
When a perfume is voted because it's already famous, with such a name, such a huge advertising investment and above all with so many prejudices ("it is Chanel, it cannot be bad", "it is Polge it cannot be a bad creation") there is little to add.
In fact, it was a vote for the past and not a vote for the future. An award should not glorify the past, nor the sales, but enlighten the future. It should arrange the things on their right scale of value and should be inspirational. This inspirational value is both for the consumer and for those who work in the fragrance industry. The consumers "vote" everyday when they buy a perfume and their choices perfectly reflect the society. There is no need to reconfirm that, but there is a need to show that a fragrance is more than a commercial equation. A perfume can be "ugly", "mediocre" or exceptional, a choice made by a consumer is never good or bad, it is History and the reflection of the present. There is no need to tell what everybody knows inside perfume labs (Chanel sells). I was furious last week when the big boss of a huge cosmetic group (with several good brands & perfumes) underlined that perfume is NOT art and shouldn't even aspire to ART.
There were many good masculine (and feminine) creations in 2010, but not all have the fame of Chanel. In fact, the vote for Bleu de Chanel expressed one of the most basic rules - you choose and appreciate what you are programmed to. In the past 2 years, with their giant fashion shows in Paris, their beautiful collections showed in extravagant places and their huge investment in perfume / make-up ads, Chanel made the headline every week. This effort is extraordinary because it is for the first time that a house manages to give such a global, constant and consistent institutional message. The image was perfect, the fashion new and amazing. For the first time, the image was stronger than the scent, even for the professionals in the industry who gave the award to this creation as the best masculine fragrance on the globe.
There were many good masculine (and feminine) creations in 2010, but not all have the fame of Chanel. In fact, the vote for Bleu de Chanel expressed one of the most basic rules - you choose and appreciate what you are programmed to. In the past 2 years, with their giant fashion shows in Paris, their beautiful collections showed in extravagant places and their huge investment in perfume / make-up ads, Chanel made the headline every week. This effort is extraordinary because it is for the first time that a house manages to give such a global, constant and consistent institutional message. The image was perfect, the fashion new and amazing. For the first time, the image was stronger than the scent, even for the professionals in the industry who gave the award to this creation as the best masculine fragrance on the globe.
When Chanel 19 took the FIFI award in 1973, the year when this award was invented, it was a revolutionary perfume - new ingredients, new olfactory shape, beautiful construction, a masterpiece. In 2011 with Bleu de Chanel as a global winner, the brilliant idea behind what was considered the Oscar of the fragrance industry is gone. FIFI Awards became obsolete. It is painful to say, but this is the truth and I insist on the fact that, as a member of Expert Jury for FIFI Awards in Paris, the brands did not supply samples the day of the vote, when they produce millions of samples in the world every year.
Unlike Chanel No 5, No19 or even Coco Mademoiselle (a very original creation the day it hit the market), "Bleu de Chanel" doesn't inspire. It is the summum of mediocrity with good ingredients and it can generate only other mediocre perfumes with less good ingredients. It is not the case for other 2 original feminine awards (Balenciaga and Untitled) where the accord is new and original. Both could generate a variety of new fragrances. Bleu de Chanel has not this ability, not even for an inexpensive body-spray line, because it is already a deodorant formula bottled in a beautiful blue bottle.
When Belle d'Opium won an award in Paris it was as if the fragrance industry assisted at its own funeral. Giving the award of the best feminine creation to the brand who has recently mutilated Opium, one year after the death of Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent, was a shame and an insult to this Art.
When Belle d'Opium won an award in Paris it was as if the fragrance industry assisted at its own funeral. Giving the award of the best feminine creation to the brand who has recently mutilated Opium, one year after the death of Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent, was a shame and an insult to this Art.
But Bleu de Chanel in New York and Belle d'Opium in Paris are part of the game and they mirror the world we live in, with a myriad of choices, tastes and above all the freedom. Today consumers can make their choices in a vast universe with all type of perfumes, they can inform themselves if a creation is original or not and this ability did not exist 20 years ago. A consumer can decide if he is the "victim" of brilliant marketing or if he buys the best for himself.
The fragrance industry can chose its future and she actually did it. Bleu de Chanel brings a lot of money to Chanel and it's their right to produce the perfume that fulfills the dreams of the company. But why should it receive a global award meant to celebrate the scent and not the brilliant management of a private company? In fact, very few professionals speak in good terms about Bleu de Chanel and this is why I am extremely surprised with the results of FIFI AWARDS. The industry complains about mediocrity, lack of inspiration and original products, but the vote reveals something very different.
The good news is that very beautiful perfumes are still created and the following months will bring a spectacular dose of creativity.
The good news is that very beautiful perfumes are still created and the following months will bring a spectacular dose of creativity.
FIFI AWARDS 2011 USA
LUXE (more than 250 doors)
• Women’s: Guilty (Gucci)
• Men’s: Bleu de Chanel
SPECIALTY LUXE (26-249 doors)
• Women’s: Balenciaga Paris
• Men’s: Azure Lime (Tom Ford)
BROAD APPEAL (drugstores/chains)
• Women’s: Pure Orchid (Halle Berry)
• Men’s: Herve Leger Homme (Avon)
SPECIALTY BRAND
• Women’s: Bombshell (Victoria's Secret)
• Men’s: Essence of Man (Banana Republic)
DIRECT TO CONSUMER
• Women’s: My Life (Mary J Blige)
INDIE BRAND (25 doors or less)
• Women’s, Men’s, and Unisex: Six Scents Series 3
THE 2011 FIFI CONSUMERS’ CHOICE
• Women’s: Bombshell (Victoria's Secret)
• Men’s: Twilight Woods (Bath & Body Works)
FIFI PERFUME EXTRAORDINAIRE
• Givaudan for Untitled (Maison Martin Margiela)
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
