Retail Report: A Fragrant Shopping Experience
The Editions de Parfums studio has been installed at Barney's New York and Los Angeles stores. By Marie Redding, Senior Editor
When Frédéric Malle began his fragrance company in 1998, he decided to create his own personalized selling technique to inspire consumer interest. His dream was realized in 2000 when the first Editions de Parfums boutique (which is managed by a trained nose) opened on Rue de Grenelle in Paris. His collection of fragrances, Editions de Parfums, is unique in that noses are given total creative freedom, without marketing or financial limitations. Malle then evaluates each creation to decide whether the fragrance will be named, signed by its "author," and "published." He continues to call on the best noses regularly to issue new fragrances, which he calls "liquid works of art."
In 2003, Malle partnered exclusively with Barney's to bring his concept to the United States. The Editions de Parfums studio was first installed at Barney's New York. Last October, it was brought to its Los Angeles store. Alanna Delacrausaz, buyer, men's and women's fragrances, at Barney's, says, "With the success of the Frédéric Malle studio in New York, it was natural to open one in our Beverly Hills store. It has already become a great success there as well."
At first glance, the studio might seem like an office. Serious-looking and a bit scientific in its design, it features a desk with vials of fragrance on top, and a chair so customers can relax while testing each scent. Framed photos of the perfumers hang on the walls. Vintage furniture by Jean Prouvé allows customers to get a sense of Malle's personal style. Many members of the staff have been trained thoroughly by Malle himself. "Fragrance advisors" give expert recommendations based upon what is right for each customer, never pushing to sell a certain one. A refrigerated cabinet is built into the wall, and all of the fragrances are stocked inside—in the same way perfumers store fresh ingredients. According to Malle, the three worst enemies of fragrance are heat, light, and air.
The most unique attraction at the Editions de Parfums studio is the seven-foot-high "smelling column." Malle himself personally invented it for a very fragrant shopping experience. The column has glass doors, and, when opened, a fragrance fills the room. You can then stand in front of the column as the scent wafts over you. This enables you to "experience the full scent, and the trail it leaves behind, not just the top notes you would get on a blotter," says James Zoleo, sales advisor for Frédéric Malle at Barney's New York.
Malle believes, "A perfume is made to be worn and then smelled at a distance by the wearer's entourage." According to Zoleo, customers have thought that the column looks like something out of a sci-fi movie that might transport you to another planet if you stepped inside.
There are four different smelling columns in the studio at Barney's New York. In two of them, a fragrance automatically comes up from the bottom and shoots into the air every few seconds. These scents are changed every other month. Zoleo explains, "We operate the other two columns manually by filling a tester with whatever scent the customer chooses and then spraying it into the tube." A specialized venting system was installed that clears the scent from the air in a few seconds.
The design team at Barney's worked directly with Malle on every aspect of the Editions de Parfums studio. Delacrausaz says, "Anything great comes with a lot of effort, and this collaboration is no different. It is always rewarding to be part of something so remarkable."
Malle's newest scent was launched last October and is called L'Eau d'Hiver, meaning Winter Water.