What is niche perfumery?

What is niche perfumery? Many are asking the question.

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 Što je niche parfumerija? To je pitanje koje se vrlo često i od mnogih postavlja.

First of all, you do not pronounce ''niche'' as you would the name of the famed philosopher F. Nietzsche, but slightly gentler and softer.  But what does “niche” actually stand for, what does the meaning of the name tell you? It literally means ''a place in the wall.'' A niche can usually be found in churches or temples with monuments. A niche is also a hideaway from something usual and common. The flat plane of a wall is broken with a hole, a niche. 

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Što znači uopće riječ niche, što Vam sam naziv govori? Doslovno označava mjesto u zidu, a najčešće može biti pronađeno u crkvama i svetim mjestima gdje su se nalazili monumenti. Ujedno označava i bijeg od nečeg uobičajenog. 

When it comes to perfumes, usual and common mainstream fragrances are not to be confused with niche perfumes. Nice fragrances are considered to be an expression of one's individuality and personality. Just as you can be specific with a specific style of fashion, you can also be very individualistic with a perfume as well.

Niche perfumes are the equivalent of a fashion style that exists which is not advertised nor massively spread, but is the expression of ultimate creativity at the same time. But that is just one side of the coin. Niche perfumes are also the symbol of great value. The point is that you discovered them by yourself without any advertising help. Niche perfume is out there waiting for your individuality and personality, and waiting to be found by you.

The philosophy of making a niche perfume is different than that of mainstream fragrances. Mainstream fragrances are those that are produced in a big marketing machine for the large, general population of people. Today, all of the contemporary mainstream fragrances share lots of similarities, such as lacking in individuality and smelling universally acceptable so they can find their own way to the buyer. Yet, commercial fragrances made in the 20th century, such as Guerlain's Jicky and Shalimar, YSL's Opium, Chanel's No. 5, Cacharel's Anais Anais, Rive Gauche, Antaeus, and Kouros among many others are pure works of art.

Generally, those in contemporary mainstream perfumery lack such creativity and courage. Most of the fragrance companies are simply driven by the big corporations and the chase for profit. Just as Gaius Julius Caesar needed to gain the Senates sympathy, Dior, Chanel, Tom Ford, Gaultier, Calvin Klein, DSquared2, Marc Jacobs, Armani, Chloe, Bvlgari, Viktor & Rolf and others are commercial fragrance companies trying to conquer the market. Of course, some of them are successful, and some of them have both niche and mainstream lines. Dior La Couturier, Chanel Les Exclusifs, Tom Ford Private Blend, Armani Prive are the niche lines within the brand in which ultimate creativity is expressed. 

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 Ravna linija zida je omeđena s udubinom. Dobro poznati i učestali mainstream parfemi su omeđeni niche linijama. Prije svega, niche se ne čita kao prezime poznatog filologa i filozofa F. Nietzsche, nego puno mekše i nježnije.

Ti parfemi su smatrani kao odraz i ekspresija individualnosti i osobnosti. Kao što možete biti vrlo specifični sa svjoim modnim stilom, tako možete biti specifični i sa mirisom. Niche parfemi su ekvivalent modnog stila ili modne kuće koja postoji, ali se ne reklamira niti je masovno raširena, nego se temelji na ultimativnoj kreativnosti. To je samo jedna strana medalje. Niche parfemi su i simbolično stvari velike važnosti. Poanta je u tome da ste Vi ti koji dođete do njih, a ne oni do Vas. Takav miris čeka u jednoj od niša na Vašu osobnost i individualnost koja tek treba mirisom biti otkrivena. Njihova filozofija stvaranja je potpuno drukčija od maisntream parfumerije. Mainstream parfemi su oni koji su dio velike marketinške mašinerije posvećenoj i usmjerenoj širokoj klijenteli i velikoj populaciji. Većini suvremenih komercijalnih mirisa nedostaje dašak osobnosti i dijele slične karakteristike te su univerzalno prihvatljivi kako bi što lakše mogli pronaći put do kupca. No, komercijalni parfemi 20. stoljeća su čista umjetnička remek djela. To su Guerlain Jicky, YSL Opium, Chanel No. 5, Shalimar, Cacharel Anais Anais, Rive Gauche, Antaeus, Kouros, Jardins de Bagatelle između mnogih ostalih. Suvremenoj mainstream parfumeriji nedostaje takve kreativne i hrabre snage. Većina kompanija je vođena velikim korporacijama i utrkom za profitom. Osvajanje tržišta je imperativ, baš kao što je i Juliju Cezaru bila potrebna naklonost Senata. Dior, Chanel, Tom Ford, Gaultier, Calvin Klein, DSquared2, Marc Jacobs, Armani, Chloe, Bvlgari, Viktor & Rolf su redom sve komercijalni parfemi. Neki od njih su vrlo uspješni i imaju istovremeno i niche i komercijalne mirise. Dior La Coutourier, Chanel Les Exclusifs, Tom Ford Private Blend, Armani Prive su linije unutar samog brenda u kojima je izražena kreativnost. 

Do not be mistaken to confuse luxury perfumes with mainstream and niche lines. All of the already mentioned brands are considered designer fragrances since their makers also have fashion lines. Guerlain and Lancome are luxury brands because they are highly concentrated within the beauty industry with their perfumes and beauty products. Guerlain was a family business until relatively recently and is the crown jewel of the perfume industry. Period. In fact, in my opinion, if there could only be one perfume brand in the world, then it should be Guerlain. It is a ''royal'' house with a tradition of preserving the finest heritage of perfume. Also, from the very beginning, they have created exclusives for both the Champs Elysees store and the commercial fragrance industry. Each Guerlain line, each perfume uses only the highest quality of craftsmanship and raw materials. Globalization and market competition make the world go around.

Finally, niche perfumes are generally free of advertising and marketing. Niche is an alternative to the mainstream fragrances. The imperative of the niche perfume maker is to offer maximum creativity and artisanal craftsmanship in the creation of their fragrance. Perfume making is one of the last artisanal trades remaining in the world and should be preserved. Creating a masterpiece with perfume should be the foremost goal, with art as the ultimate criteria. In general, niche perfumes do offer greater quality than mainstream fragrances. Perfumers are showing their true potential because they are not limited as are the designer fragrances. Art is in the spotlight because with niche fragrances we can directly consume the work of art being created by the artist – the perfumer. It can be concluded that individuality is one of the features of a niche perfume. As I have mentioned earlier, since niche fragrances are not advertised, it is up to the individual – you - to discover the wonderful world of a perfume waiting in some ''niche.'' They can be found only in specialized stores (or online) that are selling exclusively concept and niche fragrances. Niche brands usually appoint master perfumers of great talent to create the whole line or they collaborate with several of them.

Some brands are focused on using specific ingredients, such as Juliette Has A Gun and Parfums de Rosine. Both share a common passion for roses and each fragrance is a uniquely interpreted rose scent. Parfums d'Empire are dedicated to the lost empires and forgotten material things. Etat Libre d'Orange is an example of a concept perfume house trying to break all the rules by making fragrances that include ingredients such as blood, sperm, and saliva. La Maison de la Vanille are making fragrances based only on vanilla notes, while Eau d'Italie are only making perfumes intended to honor famous Italian cities and regions. As you can see, most of them have some kind of a concept. Arguably, the most important niche house is L'Artisan because it was the first one to introduce the niche concept. Even their name is derived from the word 'artisan'.

Modern niche brands are also introducing new ways of subtle marketing. By Kilian, for example, is the most luxurious eco brand that introduced new ways of marketing. Mr. Kilian Henessy is a marketing genius with a strong personality and charisma capable of being a walking commercial. Each By Kilian line is infused with luxury that is the imperative of the whole brand. The same can also be said of Ben Gorham of Byredo and Romano Ricci  of Juliette Has A Gun using raw materials with extreme quality and ultra-pure scent. They both introduced subtle marketing by appearing on fashion shows and in magazines. Having luxorious perfume within collection became matter of prestige. That's a wrong philosophy. The point is to appreciate the liquid gold inside the bottle, but to wear it with outer intimacy. There is no point of owning Xerjoff, Clive Christian, and By Kilian if you can't understand and appreciate pure works of art such as Kouros, Opium, and Shalimar. There is no point of having the Mona Lisa in a painting collection without knowing the rest of the works of Leonardo da Vinci. Artistic context matters.  I want to put a highlight on the hidden message waiting to be discovered inside.

Gender role is also very important since, generally, niche fragrances do not have gender. The gender role among perfumes is purely a social convention and temporal construction. What was considered feminine years ago, is considered masculine or unisex today. In previous years, Violet was primarily a feminine ingredient, today it is considered extremely masculine. Guerlain Shalimar is a perfect example of a unisex perfume that was made as the most gorgeous and feminine oriental vanilla. Yet, Brad Pitt was the first men's face associated with something that we consider a feminine perfume. We can say that promotional materials are determining the sex among perfumes. Niche brands have no sexual identity in either the fragrance itself or in their promotional materials. Nice brands represent the very best of creativity as a work of art. Is Picasso's 'Guernica' a feminine or masculine painting? Neither. It is simply a work of art. Likewise, a perfume is a work of art and also should not be assigned a gender role, especially niche fragrances.

Fortunately, organizations like the Fragrance Foundation and FiFi are the most important institutions today preserving perfumes as works of art. Every year, there are even  ''Oscars'' given for perfumes. But unfortunately, mixing mainstream with niche is diminishing the importance of artisan craft and craftsmanship. The craft of making perfume should be preserved as the most important quality of all perfume making, not only of niche fragrances. After all, art needs to be ultimate criteria!

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Imajte na umu da razlikujete dizajnerske mirise od luksuznih parfema i niche linija. Svi gore spomenuti mirisi su dizajnerski parfemi jer ujedno imaju i modnu liniju. Guerlain i Lancome su luksuzni parfemi jer su koncentrirani isključivo na beauty industriju sa svojim mirisima i beauty proizvodima. Guerlain je do nedavno bio obiteljski vođen obrt i predstavlja krunski dragulj u parfemskom svijetu. Ako na svijetu treba ostati samo jedan parfemski brend, onda bi to trebao biti Guerlain. Kraljevska kuća koja nastoji očuvati parfemsko nasljeđe. Od samog svog početka, imaju ekskluzivnu liniju za Chams Elysees dućan i komercijalne mirise. Svaka linija, svaki parfem ima najveću moguću kvalitetu umjetničke obrade i korištenih materijala.

Globalizacija i tržišno natjecanje su napravili da se svijet okreće.

Na kraju, imamo niche parfeme koji su oslobođeni marketinga i reklamiranja. Niche je alternativa komercijalnim mirisima. Imperativ niche parfema je da ponudi maksimalnu kreativnost i umjetnost stvaranja. Parfemsko stvaralaštvo je među zadnjim obrtima na svijetu i trebalo bi biti očuvano. Umjetnost mora biti na prvom mjestu i „art is the ultimate criteria“. Generalno, niche parfemi pružau veću kvalitetu za razliku od komercijalnih. Parfumeri pokazuju svoj puni potencijal zato što često nisu limitirani kao kod dizajnerskih mirisa. Umjetnost je u prvom planu jer pomoću parfema mi direktno možemo konzumirati umjetničko djelo napravljeno od strane umjetnika (parfumer), samo je preduvjet da svaki parfem smatramo kao umjetničko djelo. Možemo zaključiti da je individualnost jedna od specifičnosti niche parfema. Kao što sam spomenuo ranije, pošto nisu u reklamnim kampanjama, pojedinac je osoba koja otkriva svijet parfema u jednoj od niša. mogu se pronaći samo u specijaliziranim trgovinama koje prodaju samo konceptne i niche mirise. Niche brendovi uglavnom zapošljavaju jednog master parfumera velikog talenta da stvori cijelu liniju ili ostvaruju suradnju s nekolicinom njih.

Neki od brendova su koncentrirani na specifičan sastojak i sve kreacije su im bazirane oko njega. To su Juliette Has A Gun i Parfums de Rosine. Oba brenda gaje veliku strast prema ružinom cvijetu i svaki od mirisa je drugačija interpretacija ruže. Parfums d'Empire su mirisi posvećeni propalim carstvima i zaboravljenim stvarima u vremenu. Etat Libre d'Orange je konceptna kuća koja pokušava srušiti sve tabue društva stvarajući parfem s mirisom krvi, sperme i sline. La Maison de la Vanille proizvodi mirise isključivo bazirane na vaniliji, dok Eau d'Italie proizvodi parfeme u čast talijanskih regija i gradova. Kao što možete vidjeti, većina nih posjeduje koncet za kojim se vodi. Najvažnija niche kuća je L'Artisan zato što je prva koja je uvela niche koncept. Čak i samo ime 'artisan' znači umjetnik.

Moderni niche brendovi uvode potpuno nov način suptilnog marketinga. By Kilian je vjerojatno najluksuzniji eko brend koji je uveo novi vid marketinga unutar niche tržišta. Mr. Kilian Henessy je marketinški mag, snažna i karizmatična ličnost koja je sposobna biti hodajućom reklamom. Istu priču dijeli Byredo na čelu s Ben Gorhamom i Juliette Has A Gun s Romanom Riccijem. Sirovine sa iznimnom kvalitetom i ultra čistim mirisom. Svi su uveli suptilan marketing pojavljujući se na fashion događanjima i magazinima. Automobil je danas vrlo često statusni simbol u društvu i na žalost, posjedovati luksuzni parfem u vlastitoj kolekciji je postala stvar prestiža. To ej pogrešna filozofija. Poanta je cijeniti tekućinu unutar bočice i nositi je kao našu vanjsku intimu. Nema smisla imati Xerfjoff, Clive Christian, By Kilian ako se ne može razumijeti i cijeniti čisto umjetničko djelo poput Shalimara ili Opiuma. Također nema smisla imati Mona Lisu u kolekciji bez da se pozna opus Leonarda da Vincija. Ovime želim skrenuti pažnju na skrivenu poruku koja čeka da bude otkrivena unutar bočice.

Uloga roda među parfemima je jako bitna s obzirom da niche parfemi pogotovo nemaju rod. Rodna kategorija među parfemima je socijalna konvencija i temporalna definicija. Što je bilo ženstveno, danas je muževno ili unisex. Ljubičica je bila sastojak namijenjen isključivo za ženske parfeme, a danas je iznimno muževan element. Guerlain Shalimar je postao savršeno unisex miris, a napravljen je kao najlijepša ženstvena orijentalna vanilija. Brad Pitt je prvi muškarac koji se pojavljuje na reklami za ono što nazivamo ženskim parfemom. Možemo reći da su promo materijali ti koji određuju rod među parfemima. Niche nema niti rod niti promo materijala. To je estetska liga kreacija i umjetničkih djela. Da li je Picassova Guernica ženska ili muška slika? Ona je umjetničko djelo. Parfem kao umjetničko djelo nema rodne kategorije, a pogotovo u niche svijetu.

Fragrance foundation i FiFi su najvažnije institucije koje bi se trebale baviti očuvanjem parfema kao umjetničkih djela. Svake godine, dodjeljuju se Oskari za parfeme i miješati komercijalne mirise sa niche parfemima je umanjivanje njihove važnosti i umanjivanje njihovog načina stvaranja. Obrada i umjetnost bi trebali biti očuvani kao najvažnija kvaliteta stvaranja parfema svih kategorija mirisa jer umjetnost mora biti zadnji kriterij!

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Juraj, BL'eauOG