“Thank you for the Coty — I mean, FiFi — Award,” cracked Don Loftus, president and chief executive officer of P&G Prestige Products in the U.S. and chairman of the Fragrance Foundation, as he accepted the Fragrance of the Year, Men’s Luxe award for Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Pour Homme at the 36th Annual FiFi Awards Tuesday night at Manhattan’s Park Avenue Armory.
The event certainly proved to be Coty’s night. The fragrance giant won five awards, taking home Fragrance of the Year honors for three scents — Women’s Luxe (Daisy Marc Jacobs), Women’s Popular Appeal (Intimately Beckham Women) and Men’s Popular Appeal (Intimately Beckham Men) — and Best Packaging trophies in the Women’s Prestige (Daisy Marc Jacobs) and Men’s Popular Appeal (Intimately Beckham Men) categories. In addition, Vera Wang — whose fragrance license is held by Coty — was inducted into the Fragrance Foundation’s Hall of Fame. Also inducted was Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrien, which is distributed by Gary Farn Ltd.
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It proved to be a fruitful night for Avon, as well: The company won Fragrance of the Year honors in the women’s and men’s Private Label/Direct Sell categories for its Christian Lacroix Rouge and Derek Jeter Driven Black scents, respectively.
FiFi statuettes also went home with the Giorgio Armani Beauty division of L’Oréal USA, Puig Beauty & Fashion Group, the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., Hermès and Chanel. Armani Privé Vétiver Babylone snagged Fragrance of the Year in the Men’s Nouveau Niche category, while Prada Infusion d’Iris was the winner in the Women’s Nouveau Niche category. As for best national advertising campaigns, the FiFi for best TV ad went to Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle campaign featuring Keira Knightley, and for print, the FiFi went to Hermès Kelly Calèche.
Bloomingdale’s was named Retailer of the Year, and Origins Organics won for Bath and Body Line of the Year. Best Packaging for Men’s Prestige went to Attitude by Giorgio Armani, while the women’s honor went to Avon for Christian Lacroix Rouge. Interior Scent of the Year honors were given to Gump’s San Francisco Home Collection (Majestic Range, Treasured Range & Opulent Range); the Technological Breakthrough of the Year was Certified Organic Presentation from the Estée Lauder Cos., and Editorial Excellence in Fragrance Coverage awards went to Allure, BestLife, Elle and Marie Claire.
The evening also was awash with celebrities looking for their own pieces of the fragrance pie. Sandy “Pepa” Denton was up-front about her ambitions: “I can spend hours on end in department stores smelling different fragrances. I can’t wait to have my own fragrance — I always say that Salt will be like the top note and I’ll be the bottom note, the note that stays on and lingers all night long,” she said.
So was Danity Kane’s Aubrey O’Day: “I’d like Danity Kane to have their own fragrance, and I’d like to have my own, as well,” she said.
Actress Dana Delany joked that she wanted to do a fragrance called “eau de desperate” to complement her “Desperate Housewives” role, and Padma Lakshmi of “Top Chef” was offering sniffs of her wrist, which contained a fragrance concoction of her own.
Ernest Borgnine took credit for helping to launch wife Tova’s eponymous best-selling QVC fragrance nearly two decades ago. “I tried it on lots of ladies!” he crowed.
Zac Posen noted that his first fragrance will be out in December. “It’s an edgy floral,” he said.
“I’m wearing it!” said his date and co-presenter, Bernadette Peters. She has just written a book and a song to benefit shelter animals, but quickly added: “I’m not doing a dog perfume!”
Sean Avery, the New York Ranger-cum-Vogue intern who presented former Vogue staffer Wang with her award, said his internship at Vogue is “going good,” adding, “I wanted to immerse myself in fashion, and I couldn’t think of a better place to do it than Vogue.” The left-winger said he’s taking it easy during the off-season, but quickly added that “Vogue is a tough business — it’s a commitment. I’m focusing on that and having fun with it.”
— With contributions from Michelle Edgar