Inside the 2023 Fragrance Foundation Awards
Spirits were high at at the Fragrance Foundation’s 50th annual awards ceremony on Thursday, with the “fragrance effect” in full force.
The event, held at The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York, drew a record-high 900 attendees from all corners of the industry and beyond, celebrating the buoyancy of a category whose sales are up 13 percent year-to-date, according to Circana. Fragrance Foundation president Linda Levy noted there were more nominations this year than ever before. “2022 was such an outstanding fragrance year,” she said during her opening remarks. “We received more nominations than ever before.”
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L’Oréal’s gains have been even greater — its fragrance sales were up 25 percent last year — and that success was reflected in the winners. The group took home six statues in total, including two for Prada Paradoxe, the top-selling launch of 2022, and the Consumer’s Choice men’s honors for Ralph Lauren Polo Blue.
L’Oréal’s chief executive officer Nicolas Hieronimus was inducted into the Fragrance Foundation Hall of Fame, with Oscar winner Cate Blanchett on hand to present the honors. “The exceptional teams that Nicolas has led at the L’Oréal group over the past decade-plus have yielded the sort of iconic fragrances that encourage all of us to see ourselves anew,” she said. “He is a man who understands how to work with teams — and he’s had exceptional teams — and also how to work with the creators themselves.”
For his part, Hieronimus called on the industry to band together to counter regulatory restrictions currently under consideration in Europe and California. “There are regulations that are being worked on with very little scientific background, and with hasty decisions that may limit considerably the access to many raw materials, particularly naturals,” he said. “We have to defend the very beautiful creative art of perfume.”
Others presenting awards included Keke Palmer, Sergio Hudson, Diane Krueger, Jason Wu, Vera Wang, and Tai Beauchamp and Malaika Jones of Brown Girl Jane.
IFF master perfumer Anne Flipo closed out the ceremony by accepting the Lifetime Achievement Perfumer Award, describing being a perfumer as “much more than a job; it is a daydream.”
Here, the winners of the 2023 Fragrance Foundation Awards.
Lifetime Achievement Perfumer Award: Anne Flipo, Master Perfumer at IFF
Hall of Fame Award: Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal
Fragrance of the Year, Universal Luxury: Gucci The Alchemist’s Garden Tears From The Moon Eau de Parfum
Fragrance of the Year, Universal Prestige: Maison Margiela Replica When The Rain Stops
Fragrance of the Year, Women’s Luxury: Chanel Gabrielle Chanel Parfum Spray
Fragrance of the Year, Women’s Prestige: Prada Paradoxe Eau de Parfum
Fragrance of the Year, Men’s Luxury: Tom Ford Noir Extreme Parfum
Fragrance of the Year, Men’s Prestige: Hermès Terre d’Hermès Eau Givrée Eau de Parfum
Fragrance of the Year, Popular: Nest New York Golden Nectar Eau de Parfum
Perfume Extraordinaire of the Year: BDK Parfums Gris Charnel Extrait de Parfum
Fragrance Editorial of the Year, Print or Digital: Town & Country: “Why Fragrances With Green Notes Are Going to Be Everywhere in 2023” by April Long
Packaging of the Year, Luxury: Christian Louboutin Beauty Loubimar
Packaging of the Year, Prestige/Popular: Jean Paul Gaultier Le Beau
Indie Fragrance of the Year: Amouage Opus XIV Royal Tobacco
Fragrance Innovative Product of the Year: Veronique Gabai Aroma Heart
Media Campaign of the Year: Paco Rabanne Invictus
Fragrance Hall of Fame: Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Eau de Parfum
Consumer Choice, Candle & Home Collection of the Year: Nest New York Himalayan Salt & Rosewater
Consumer Choice, Men’s & Universal: Ralph Lauren Polo Blue Parfum
Consumer Choice, Women’s Prestige: Prada Paradoxe Eau de Parfum
Consumer Choice, Women’s Popular: Billie Eilish Eilish No. 2
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