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Xerjoff Founder and Creative Director Sergio Momo said he chose to work with Nuance on a fragrance for travel retail because it understands the needs of niche fragrances |
Italian perfume house Xerjoff has worked exclusively with The Nuance Group on a new fragrance that will be sold through the travel retail operator.
Xerjoff Founder and Creative Director Sergio Momo created the fragrance, called Pikovaya Dama, which launched last month at the new terminal at St Petersburg Pulkovo Airport and at Antalya Airport Terminal 2 in Turkey.
Momo chose to work with Nuance as a travel retail partner because of its willingness to take risks. “They are most definitely leading the way in niche fragrances,” he said, adding that Xerjoff created a bespoke fragrance for the DFS/ADAC Master of Fragrances event.
He said: “The dynamics of duty free are very different to that of the domestic market where, in fact, retailers are generally cutting down on the number of SKUs offered. If we create an exclusive line for Harrods then consumers know they just have to go to Harrods to buy it.
“Airport retail is different – a consumer will not decide to go to Turkey because Antalya has an exclusive fragrance there. However, travellers are increasingly looking for a reason to buy when they are at an airport and an exclusive offer is, we know, a big attraction.”
Xerjoff fragrances are distributed to the travel retail channel through Be-Keen, which Momo said is performing well for the perfume house.
“Antoine and Abla [of Be-Keen] both have a real intuition for the niche sector and understand completely both the culture of the brand and of the retail requirement. They are really focused on niche, what it stands for and what is required from airport partners,” said Momo.
The latest fragrance, Pikovaya Dama, is based on Xerjoff’s 17/17 collection, which is the original fragrance that Momo created for the perfume house. In Russian, the name translates as, “Queen of Spades,” taken from the short story of the same name by Russian author Alexander Pushkin.
The result is a juice with head notes of bergamot, lemon, rose and neroli, followed by a heart of coriander, cedar, iris, incense and nutmeg. The musk base is blended with patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla notes. The fragrance is contained in a hand-cut and polished flacon with a tiger’s eye stone label, presented in a gift box with “˜Airport Exclusive Russian Edition’ printed on it.
Momo said it was challenging creating a fragrance for travel retail as customers aren’t as easy to identify. “With my experience, I have very good knowledge of our customers in specific territories, but duty free is more difficult as the profile is much more diverse. You can have an idea from the passenger profile at the airport but nevertheless it is usually a real mix of cultures,” he said.
Momo said Xerjoff is one of the few niche brands committed to the channel. “I believe that there will be huge development in the way retailers develop the role for niche brands over the next few years,” he said. “People are travelling more often and becoming more affluent and they demand more from their retail experience – more choice, more innovation and more exclusivity.”
He added that space and positioning are key for niche brands as they need to reflect the “DNA” of the brand.
Pikovaya Dama carries a retail price of €545.
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The fragrance, Pikovaya Dama, is described as not too masculine or feminine so that it will appeal to a wide variety of customers in travel retail |
