Initio Parfums Privés Readying First Boutique, in Paris
PARIS — Initio Parfums Privés is poised to inaugurate its first flagship, based in Paris, in mid-May.
The 540-square-foot boutique, situated at 320 Rue Saint-Honoré, in the city’s first arrondissement, was designed by Malherbe Paris agency.
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“It’s based around the concept of the speakeasy — a private club,” said Julien Sausset, chief executive officer of Parfums de Marly and Initio Parfums Privés, two fragrance brands under Sprecher Berrier Group of Companies, also known as SBGC, which is run by Julien Sprecher.
Initio, a unisex brand, was introduced in 2015. That year, it was first exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman in the U.S.
In the Paris boutique is to be a proper bar — of fragrances — as well as a dedicated space where people can discover the perfumes in an intimate environment. Décor-wise there are details harking back to the ’30s, such as in brass, concrete, marble, glass and felt.
Initio Parfums Privés' fragrance bar.
The concept will ultimately be used in different retail environments, such as in department stores as shops-in-shop.
“It’s the new image of Initio — very forward-thinking, very luxurious, very ‘intimate insider,’ as we like to call it,” said Sausset.
These insiders, he explained, are willing to take a risk and enter the brand’s universe. (Initio’s perfumes have titillating monikers, such as Absolute Aphrodisiac, Addictive Vibration and Side Effect.)
“The essence of the brand’s positioning is that you feel what you smell,” he said. “It is based on the concept of the power of scents.”
Scent can empower a person, for instance, or give him or her confidence, he continued.
“We have a very strong community of people [around the brand],” said Sausset, despite the fact Initio has never advertised.
Today, it has five collections — Carnal Blends, Absolutes, Magnetic Blends, Black Gold Project and Hedonist — with 18 units in all. Initio is present in about 600 sales points worldwide, in 50 countries. The brand’s biggest market is the U.S. by far, ringing up 40 percent of sales. There, the door count will double in 2022, including new locations in Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom.
Initio’s second- and third-largest markets are Russia and the U.K. The brand generates total annual retail revenues of $60 million, whereas its sister fragrance brand Parfums de Marly, which launched first, rings up $200 million per year, according to Sausset.
Business keeps booming.
Courtesy of Inition Parfums Privés
“We see an acceleration in the conversion from prestige users to niche users,” said Sausset, citing one of many contributing reasons.
There’s also geographic expansion. In 2022, Initio will be launched in countries including Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
Initio’s signature — and bestselling — fragrance is Oud for Greatness. Each scent in the line is priced at $330 for a 90-ml. eau de parfum.
For more, see:
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