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Before I started collecting scents I used to think that clothing designers who had their

post #1 of 11
9/21/11 at 1:13am
Thread Starter 
name on a fragrance were the same ones that actually designed those scents!
Now I know better, or do I?

Are there any CLOTHING designers that actually concoct their scents, at least on a regular basis or a majority of them?
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post #2 of 11
9/21/11 at 3:37am
I think many of them have creative input as to what they would like the finished product to smell like, but can't think of any who actually create their scents themselves in the laboratory from scratch to finished fragrance.
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post #3 of 11
9/21/11 at 8:16am
Maybe Armani prive.
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post #4 of 11
9/21/11 at 8:25am
Some, like Versace seem to just license their brand to whomever. Most (I hope) like Tom Ford let a competent pro do the work, but have to give their approval before it gets made.
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post #5 of 11
9/21/11 at 8:28am
In most cases, I just think it's a form of outsourcing/delegating to other companies
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post #6 of 11
9/21/11 at 9:08am
Yes.

The fragrance division of major designer labels is often spun off or licensed to a cosmetics manufacturer. Hilfiger, Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Sean John and DKNY are all Estee Lauder, for example.

Most of the major European fashion houses have been bought up by major multinationals like LVMH and their fragrance divisions have either been spun off or separated.
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post #7 of 11
9/21/11 at 9:43am
I'm sure all the major designers outsource their fragrance development as it would be extremely expensive to keep that entirely in-house. Most likely many of them come up with the marketing strategy of the fragrance first and then come up with a fragrance that will in some way match the marketing. The creation process probably starts by the designer telling the fragrance developers what they're roughly looking for and then they will go through a series of possibilities before approving a final version. I think the development of Loud for Tommy Hilfiger in that documentary is more or less how most designers make new fragrances now
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post #8 of 11
9/21/11 at 10:22am
I'm a jewelry designer (who has designed for private label) and my own line, and I can't imagine suddenly becoming a chemist overnight, setting up a lab so I can design a fragrance. Even clothing designers when they put out a jewelry line, don't design it. They outsource to companies with designers, and those designers pitch a few sample lines that think would be appropriate. And the way that usually works is that they'll say design me something kind of like so and so's line, but at this pricepoint and tweak this part with fill in the blank.
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post #9 of 11
9/22/11 at 4:50pm
There is probably an occasional designer who wants to try their hand at making a scent and be a little more involved, but I'm guessing for the most part it is "go make me baz" (for pretty broad baz) and then the designer approves it.
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post #10 of 11
9/22/11 at 10:40pm
I think most designers are more than happy to let people think they made the stuff themselves, but pretty much everyone here knows that usually they just come up with some general ideas of what they want ( called a brief ) and send it out to the various big makers (which rarely if ever market anything under their own name) and then take their choice from the group of submissions they receive.
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post #11 of 11
10/10/11 at 12:46am
Wow - that's a really interesting question.

I don't think there's a single designer out there that's also a trainer perfumer who really does make their own perfumes without help.

Most have absolutely nothing at all to do with their perfumes, having long since sold their names to perfume manufacturers who make their stuff for them (it's easy to spot these when a really expensive exclusive designer like YSL or Versace has affordable perfumes that are easy to find).

I think the most interesting are the designers who actually really care and work closely with their perfumers. Tom Ford comes to mind as an obvious example, as does Commes Des Garcons. I read an interview with John Varvatos's perfumer who said that John was very involved and very picky (in a good way).

Others get away with it by just hiring and trusting a really good perfumer and giving him the freedom to make better perfumes than would normally come from clothing designers. I think of Chanel and Hermes like this - they might not be huge perfume experts, but they care enough to hire really good noses and let them work their magic.
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