The Fragrance Market's Squeezed Middle

Business of Fashion

20 hours ago

Just a year ago, Nest was all about accessible luxury. The premium fragrance brand, best known for its home candles and diffusers, expanded its line into body sprays that launched at Ulta Beauty for $39 – a category that's been booming thanks to younger shoppers.
But in May, the 17-year-old brand decided that upmarket was the way to move, wiping its Instagram feed clean and replacing it with its new Voyages collection of fine perfumes sold for $250 at Harrods and Bergdorf Goodman. The accompanying campaign, shot by photographer Nick Knight, lends it a higher-fashion positioning than past products. Knight told The Business of Beauty he spent four weeks photographing the fragrances with the goal 'to create images that live in your memory and your emotions.'
Nest CEO Edgar Huber, who joined the brand in March 2023, said, 'One of the key elements we have identified for us is really to elevate the brand, make the brand more sophisticated, modernize it, [and make] it more attractive on a global basis.' Still, the body sprays are staying put at Ulta Beauty, and its core sub-$200 range of fragrances is remaining in retailers like Sephora.
At first glance, this low-to-high oscillation might seem chaotic, especially in context: Nest's beloved founder Laura Slatkin announced her departure from day-to-day activities earlier in the month in the midst of its rebranding. But consumer desire for affordable scents you can layer and ultra-luxury fragrances that are cult-worthy reflect the current state of the fragrance market: price points low and high are booming, while prestige sales are lagging.
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According to data from Circana, sales of fragrances with an average price under $50 grew by 11 percent in the first quarter of this year, while those over $150 increased by 14 percent. The accessible spray categories continue to skyrocket, with body spray sales doubling their sales and hair perfumes up 70 percent. The $50 to $150 range, however – where the smaller sizes of classic icons like Chanel No. 5 and Miss Dior sit — has seen sales decline 3 percent.
'After Covid, niche kind of exploded,' said fragrance consultant Robert Sorce, a former president of Byredo who has also worked at Creed and Amouage. 'A lot of prestige brands are thinking, 'How do I really upscale to compete with those niche brands?''
Brands with products in the mid-price range — which is where Nest's core fragrances land, at $102 — have several challenges when expanding to both the high and the accessible ends of the spectrum. Both require a calibration of brand equity, whether that means elevation to support fine fragrance launches or preservation when going downmarket.
Nest's revamp strategy has gone beyond an Instagram reset and high-end campaign. Behind the scenes, it has meant 'closing distribution we didn't want to have,' including combating third-party marketplace sellers on Amazon, as well as reducing discounts and promotions, said Huber. In addition, the brand has pursued more 'consistent and coherent brand expression' with packaging redesign.
Stretching the Limits
With the continuous popularization of niche fragrances well above the $250 price range, the price of what qualifies as 'luxury' fragrance has shifted far upward. The sub-$200 fragrances, typically designer in nature, feel inexpensive compared to niche labels pushing the boundaries of what fragrance collectors are willing to pay.
'The prices just keep going up,' said Sorce. Kering-owned Creed's 100 mL signature Aventus fragrance has climbed above $500, while Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Baccarat Rouge retails at $335 for 50 mL. Brands such as Roja can sell bottles over $3,300.
The number of luxury fashion brands with upmarket fragrance offerings has steadily risen in recent years. Following Dior's La Collection Privée ($220 for the smallest size) and Chanel's Les Exclusifs de Chanel ($350), which debuted in the 2000s, Gucci came out with its Alchemist's Garden line ($280 to $415) in 2019 and Louis Vuitton launched its Les Extraits in 2021 ($585). Luxury fashion brands entering or restarting fragrance have skipped over the prestige category entirely and gone straight to luxury, such as Puig-owned Dries Van Noten with its collection ranging from $310 to $365 and Kering-owned Bottega Veneta's Colpo di Sole fragrance at $450. Even premium brands have climbed up, with Diptyque launching Les Essences de Diptyque ($330) last year.
'They saw this surge in niche and that people were paying for $500 for a bottle of Creed,' said Sorce. 'They were like, 'There's no price resistance, so we're going to cut out the bottom. It makes more sense to just invest more in the top.''
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For Nest, the reasons to go upmarket were numerous, said Huber. He noted that luxury is the 'fastest growing sub-category of fine fragrances,' and has global appeal – while body sprays are a very North America-centred phenomenon. The new line will help the brand's goal of moving further into luxury retailers in Europe and the Middle East, he said.
Margins are also better on fine fragrances, even with the higher cost of luxury ingredients, said Sorce.
The High-Low Shopper
While a highly concentrated eau de parfum with an expensive campaign is one of the only ways perfumiers can go upmarket, there are nearly infinite ways to go more accessible. In addition to less concentrated options like body sprays and hair perfumes, minis, rollerballs, and 'ancillaries' like lotions are all seeing high demand. These launches are still coming in rapid succession, with Boy Smells and By Rosie Jane both being the latest to join the body spray craze last week.
'I'm a prestige value shopper. I love beautiful products, but I also want to have an attainable price point that doesn't feel like a luxury,' said By Rosie Jane founder Rosie Jane Johnston, who launched a fragrance-forward body care collection in May.
The most obvious customer for these launches is the entry-level shopper, which is as young as Gen Alpha, thanks to Sol de Janeiro. According to Huber, 64 percent of Nest's body mist customers are new to the brand, creating a ladder for shoppers who might upgrade to the core fragrances and Voyages eventually.
More than ever, it appears masstige, premium and luxury brands are finding common ground, creating cheaper formats or ultra-luxe options. Few, however, are revitalizing their core segments.
But the premium price range slump isn't affecting all brands equally, as popular designer perfume franchises remain resilient: LVMH listed Dior's J'adore as one of its scents with 'enduring appeal' in its first-quarter 2025 earnings report. Buzzy scents like Glossier You have won over TikTok and brought newness to the classic category.
As more luxury brands like Balenciaga plan their entries and re-entries into fragrance, it's unlikely that new launches will be in the $100 price range, according to Sorce. 'They'll look at more of the $200-and-above range,' he predicted.
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