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Designer, Niche and ?

post #1 of 7
5/2/09 at 9:33pm
Thread Starter 
After hangin' around here for some time, I understand the obvious difference between the terms niche and designer - but is it possible there is room for something in between?

Case in point might be Lalique Encre Noir. It is clearly not niche, and while technically it's probably designer, it's not found in your everyday department store. After my local Neiman's didn't have the smaller bottle, I picked it up at the downtown Lalique boutique. Another possible example might be Terre d'Hermes. I am sure there are others that can be found at places like Saks or Neiman, Bergdorf or wherever - and technically fall into that designer category, but harder to find.

Don't we have a name for this group of frags? Should there be? Or am I just stirring up the categorizing pot?
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post #2 of 7
5/2/09 at 9:44pm
I understand LT's point that a lot of niche frags are basically "bases," but other than that I don't worry too much about such designations.
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post #3 of 7
5/2/09 at 9:59pm
Thread Starter 
Bigsly - I'm not preoccupied with it per se, but it would be convenient to identify such a group as being "not quite niche", or "more exclusive than designer", just as a point of reference I guess.

I used Encre Noir as an example because while I know it's technically a "designer", I wouldn't necessarily relegate it to the same group as Calvin Klein or Dolce & Gabana (no offense intended to CK or D&G fans, of course).
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post #4 of 7
5/2/09 at 10:27pm
The border between niche and designer is tricky. There are some quite mainstream niche fragrances, like Green Irish Tweed, and there are some very obscure designers ( can fragrances like Caron's urn parfums really be called Designer fragrances? )

There are also designer brands that launch exclusive lines, cashing in on the niche and designer market. Terre D'Hermes is designer, but I think Vetiver Tonka is pretty much a niche fragrance.

There's really not a clear cut line, only general areas.
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post #5 of 7
5/2/09 at 11:07pm
From what I can see it's worth keeping an eye on the actual perfumer involved. Christopher Sheldrake has gone from Serge Lutens (niche) to Chanel (about as designer as it gets) and I've found Coromandel to be unique - Sycamore also getting some interest from a lot of people. JC Ellena seems to have a legacy of some scents for niche houses (L'Artisan, Frederic Malle & his own TDC) and a few for designer brands (Bulgari / Cartier and now Hermes). To a much greater (though not always - see how Bulgari Eau de The Vert came about) extent the designer brands are going after mass and have the ad budgets to match but in terms of what appears in the bottle I think the distinction between the two can be blurry. Clearly the 'Creative Director' the parfumer is collaborating with and a house style will have a bearing on the creation but I enjoy tracking individuals work over the years - there are some incredibly talented people moving round out there who turn up (sometimes unpredictable) surprises in the most unlikely places.
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post #6 of 7
5/3/09 at 12:35am
If: Perfumers/Noses = Artisans

And: Niche = 100%(?) Artisanal frags

And: Designer = Commercial/generic + some Artisanal frags

Could the "middle ground" (intersection) be Artisanal frags?
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post #7 of 7
5/3/09 at 1:00am
There's like a few limited editions.. designer fragrances.. though, they can't be sold everywhere, and they are limited. Is this what you're looking for?
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