Fragrance Foundation Celebrates 30 Years Of Impact

The winners of the UK Fragrance Foundation Awards, including Chanel, Paco Rabanne and Juliet Has A Gun, all celebrated in London last night as the industry gathered to laud its success.

The wholesale perfume and cosmetics industry will bring an estimated £6.9 billion into the UK this year. Whilst the pandemic may have seen enforced lockdowns with the closing of popular beauty and fragrance floors in department stores, it has dampened consumer desire for scented products.

Conversations about fragrance on social media have actually increased by 11% since the first lockdown with consumers have been researching soothing, feel-good fragrances in preference to more seductive scents.The industry was certainly back to form as thought-leaders and influencers in the sector predicted an exciting time ahead for the future of the fragrance business.

Known as the ‘Oscars’ of the fragrance industry, this was the 30^th annual Fragrance Foundation UK Awards and saw Chairman Annalise Fard who is Director of Home & Beauty at luxury department store, Harrods hand over the reins as Chair of the Foundation to renowned perfumer Roja Dove.

The award for Best New Fragrance of the last thirty years was presented to Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle and the Online Retailer of The Year was The Perfume Shop.

With training and education at its core, The Fragrance Foundation is a not-for-proft organisation which began in New York in 1949. It was founded by Chanel, Coty
COTY
, Elizabeth Arden, Guerlain and Helena Rubinstein.

With affiliates in Austria, France and the United Kingdom, the foundation is dedicated to enhancing the image of the sector as well as being a central source of educational information. The organisation aims to support new talent and to drive growth.

Other winners at the 30th Anniversary Awards ceremony included:

Ultimate 2022 Launch for a fragrance – Paco Rabanne for Phantom

Newcomer 2022 – joint winners are NEST, New York and Wylde Moon the fragrance from UK TV Presenter, Holly Willoughby.

Independent Fragrance Brand for 2022 – Experimental Perfume Club, created by the French perfumer and entrepreneur Emmanuelle Moeglin.

For the first time in The Fragrance Foundation UK’s history, a Hall of Fame Award was announced; its recipient was Chanel.

The Foundation highlighted that the last 12 months have proved extremely positive with many new companies welcomed as members ready to invest in training and in people. Research supported by Oxford Economics has established that the fragrance industry creates over 127,000 jobs in the United Kingdom.

New trends within the industry include more engagement with consumers on personalising fragrance and products developed, with a focus on wellness reflecting an interest in emotional and physical health.

Playful packaging and impactful advertising has always proven to be a successful formula to boost a fragrance brands stand out in-store and online.

Simon Hathaway of retail innovation consultancy, Outform feels there is still an important role for physical retail for the fragrance industry.

“The role of in-store has never been more important, people are all leaving our homes and heading to stores to find what’s new. We navigate by colour and shape, so packaging that’s playful and bring exciting colour to the category inspires people who want to smell great.

We’ve seen much more boldness in store, brands have been quick to ramp up sampling again and differentiate themselves in-store, the smarter and more ambitious using tech to create contextually relevant experiences that inspire customers in-store”” explained Hathaway.

The design & packaging category at The Fragrance Foundation Awards garnered another win for Chanel and was judged by designers Melissa Odabash, Julien Macdonald, Jenny Packham and celebrity stylist, Nick Ede.

“The Fragrance Foundation Awards are the Oscars of the fragrance world -innovators in scent, product and design, it’s an ever changing landscape that is constantly evolving” commented Ede about the industry event.