Portraits in Leadership
Laurice Rahmé
Laurice Rahmé, president of Bond No. 9, has always been on a mission to restore artistry to perfumery and to bring luxury back to packaging. Her work is setting an example for the entire fragrance industry.
In 2001, Rahmé was able to realize her dream of launching her own collection of fragrances named after different neighborhoods in New York City. The collection’s name, Bond No. 9, is derived from the actual address of the flagship store, which is located at 9 Bond St. The store features self-serve stations from which different scents can be sampled and poured into a selection of bottles from one of many freestanding, mannequin-shaped displays. “For me, the store is a continuation of the packaging,” says Rahmé. She now owns and operates a total of four stores in Manhattan.
Rahmé has overcome all of the challenges in marketing a niche brand. “I’ve always thought New York City should be seen as the center of the fragrance industry, and it makes me proud to contribute to accomplishing this.”
Rahmé is on the board of directors for The Fragrance Foundation, and she was recently named Business Woman of the Year by the Business Advisory Council Committee.
Rahmé has lived in New York City for 25 years, but she was born in Paris. She began her career as an antiques dealer after studying art at the Louvre Museum in Paris. In 1973, she joined Lancôme-Paris as international training director, then became the director of the Lancôme Institut de Beauté in 1976 when she relocated to L’Oréal USA’s headquarters (formerly Cosmair) in New York. “I call Lancôme my university, because I learned so much while working there, including planning and organizational skills.” During her years at Lancôme, Rahmé worked mainly with skin care and color cosmetics.
In 1989, Rahmé became the partner of Annick Goutal’s operations in New York City and realized that fragrance was her true passion. Rahmé can be credited with introducing the small French company to the United States. She used a niche marketing approach and presented the bottle to consumers as if it were a jewel, capitalizing on the brand’s boutique allure. Her strategy resulted in rapid growth, with U.S. sales representing 90% of the company’s worldwide business. Next, in 1995, Rahmé became the exclusive U.S. distributor for the Creed fragrance collection and applied her techniques to contribute to its growth.
Now, Rahmé enjoys the creative freedom she has with Bond No. 9. “People are often afraid to break rules. But in the fashion world, everyone is freer. I don’t know why our industry has been too restrained and imprisoned by rules. I am trying to fight this,” she says. Every time a new fragrance is launched, Rahmé often asks the “impossible” of her suppliers, trying to decorate a bottle in a new way. “They think I’m crazy at first, but then thank me after discovering a way to accomplish it.”
Rahmé is proud of her vintage car decorated in the same style as one of her colorful bottles. She calls it the Bond Mobile. It has a perfume bar inside and is used to offer New Yorkers free rides to a Bond No. 9 store. “It goes everywhere we want Bond to be, like a store on wheels,” she says.
Rahmé is also giving back to the industry by working with students. Last year, she initiated a contest for design students at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, and presented three winners with scholarships. “If you want to find fresh, creative ideas, you have to turn to students,” she says.