FKA Twigs, Viktor & Rolf on Good Fortune
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PARIS — Viktor & Rolf is plunging back on to the women’s fragrance scene with Good Fortune, the brand’s first major feminine launch in seven years.
FKA twigs fronts the eau de parfum.
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“The ultimate vision that Viktor & Rolf wanted to achieve is what initially drew me to the project,” she told WWD. “Good Fortune is about embracing the modern mystic. I believe that when it comes to shaping your own destiny, what you put out is what you get back, and the vision of Good Fortune certainly embraces this.”
The multihyphenate singer-songwriter-dancer said she and the designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have a long history together.
“I have always been a fan of their authenticity and their efforts in ensuring they [have] a sustainable brand, with such initiatives as Good Fortune being in a beautiful, yet refillable, bottle — so that you only have to purchase once,” FKA twigs said.
“Everything from the connection to the amethysts to the colors embodied in the campaign highlighted the message of embracing oneself, which is a message I deeply resonate with,” she continued. “This allowed for freedom and creativity within the campaign.”
That was directed by Andrew Thomas Huang, while stills were lensed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.
FKA twigs was naturally drawn to what to sing in the spot — her latest release, “Killer.” And to the fragrance.
“Good Fortune includes a warm, creamy vanilla, which is one of my favorite notes that a perfume can have,” she said. “I find it really comforting, and it evokes feelings of femininity.”
Horsting and Snoeren saw FKA twigs in concert and were blown away. They were also drawn to her spirituality and creativity.
“It’s like she embodies this idea of creating your own good fortune,” Horsting said.
In a twist of fate, FKA twigs was a sales person for Flowerbomb, the Viktor & Rolf fragrance, when it came out in 2005.
Courtesy of L'Oréal
She collaborated closely with the designers on the Good Fortune campaign video.
“The choreography is really hers,” Horsting said. “We fairly quickly came to this idea of the infinity zoom — you’re with a fortune teller, she draws you into this crystal ball, you see her, you meet again in a different guise. Then again, you’re drawn into the ball she’s playing with. So you’re going into new worlds all the time, where you meet her in different moods. We felt quite strongly about showing these different moods and different facets of a personality.”
The designers feel that Good Fortune fits well with Flowerbomb, which is about the power of transformation and spectacular beauty, while Bonbon is more of a couture fragrance.
They consider Good Fortune to be about “spiritual glamour.”
“It felt important to do something new and more spiritual,” Snoeren said.
The idea for Good Fortune — and to dedicate a fragrance to the idea of spirituality — grew over several years.
“Obviously, spirituality means different things to different people,” Horsting said.
Both he and Snoeren felt a need to look inward in their quests for meaning. (They have dedicated fashion collections to different notions of spirituality, as well.)
“We can’t change the world; we can change ourselves,” said Snoeren, explaining that to become the best version of themselves, it’s key to focus on the positives.
For the perfume project, an image that sprang to mind was of a glamorous fortune teller with her crystal ball.
“Let’s say an old Hollywood version of a fortune teller, who draws you into her world and reveals the future,” Horsting said. “But then we said to ourselves — it’s not like the future just happens. You are part of creating your own good fortune.”
They wanted a sparkling and light fragrance.
“Then the perfumers came up with a concept of white magic,” said Snoeren, referring to IFF perfumers Ann Flipo and Nicolas Beaulieu.
“The idea was to create this very addictive fragrance, but driven by white magic,” explained Guillaume de Lesquen, global president, international designer fragrances, at L’Oréal, Viktor & Rolf’s fragrance and beauty licensee.
Ingredients in this vegan potion include a jasmine accord, and another accord based on fennel and gentian flower.
“We love the connotations of these two, because they’re connected to ideas of purification [and healing],” Horsting said.
The rounded body of the eco-conceived bottle is shaped like a crystal ball, and the cap winks to a faceted amethyst, the color of which infuses the flacon that’s customizable with charms.
Retail prices for Good Fortune are about 43 euros for a 30-ml. spray, 63 euros for the 50-ml. version and 90 euros for the 90 ml.
De Lesquen said the project is very much in the DNA of Viktor & Rolf and its designers. It also chimes with the times. The executive said that during the coronavirus pandemic, women have become more interested in spirituality, yoga and meditation.
Further, a generation of women who grew up with “Harry Potter” and other magical stories and series are now between 20 and 40 years old. Still, few fragrances explore such enchanted realms.
Good Fortune will have strong digital play, including a documentary of Horsting and Snoeren, tarot gaming to discover the day’s good fortune and personality quizzes to find out “which type of witch are you,” de Lesquen said.
He would not discuss sales and forecasts for Good Fortune, which launches in the Western world at the end of June. But industry sources believe the scent could generate $200 million in retail sales between July and year-end. The sources said Viktor & Rolf fragrances should generate more than $800 million overall in retail sales in 2022, twice more than two years ago.
Bolstering the brand’s business are consumers’ thirst for elevated fragrances and the boom of perfumes since the health crisis took hold.
“Flowerbomb is a very transporting fragrance,” said de Lesquen, adding the launch of the Flowerbomb Ruby Orchid flanker early last year was well-received.
Flowerbomb, Viktor & Rolf’s bestselling scent, ranks sixth in the U.S. and 15th in the U.K.
Spicebomb was relaunched last year with Infrared, accelerating that brand’s sales in numerous countries. De Lesquen said Spicebomb and Bonbon are doing “extremely well.”
Viktor & Rolf’s fragrance business is currently driven by the Western world — North America, Europe and travel retail.
FOR MORE ON VIKTOR & ROLF, SEE:
Viktor & Rolf on Designing Wedding Gowns Within Restrictions
Viktor & Rolf Stages First Asian Retrospective in China’s Shenzhen
Front Row at Viktor & Rolf Couture Spring 2022
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