PARIS — Jil Sander is launching its first luxury fragrance collection, called Olfactory Series 1 Collection, which includes six fragrances.
Echoing the brand’s minimalist aesthetic, each fragrance has a short formula, including just three natural ingredients, aldehydes, alcohol from upcycled carbon emissions and water.
Lucie and Luke Meier, creative directors of the house, were involved in the project. “Our approach is consistent across all forms of design, whether it’s fashion, architecture or fragrance,” they said in a statement. “We aim to create designs that evoke strong emotions and personal connections.
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“In creating Olfactory Series 1, we followed the same process: collaboration, clear direction and working with skilled perfumers to develop elegant, unisex scents,” the Meiers continued. “Using aldehydes, we enhanced simple ingredients to create unique and amplified expressions.”
The haute parfumerie segment of the fragrance industry is booming, and brands like Jil Sander have taken note.
“We also saw a very strong momentum on the [Jil Sander] fashion side, bridging its original values with a new vision for the future,” said Jean Holtzmann, chief brand officer of Prestige at Coty Inc., which holds the Jil Sander fragrance license. “We thought that there would be an opportunity to express the brand [in perfume] with a positioning [that] is very close to the fashion.”
He described the collection as emoting the connection between humanity and nature, as well as a sense of craftsmanship. Shining a light on individuality was key.
The scents include Leaf, by Mane perfumer Julie Massé; Miel (or Honey) by Mane perfumer Mathilde Bijaoui; Black Tea, by Firmenich’s Nathalie Lorson; Earth, by Massé; Coffea, by IFF perfumer Paul Guerlain, and Smoke, by Dsm-Firmenich’s Bérénice Watteau.
The Meiers worked with Formafantasma, a Milan and Rotterdam-based design studio on the bottles, which have an asymmetric shape and individual glass repartition. Every one has a bell-shaped white aluminum cap that covers the flacon like a bell jar. That is in part functional — to protect the fragrance from light.
The collection will launch Tuesday in 21 Jil Sander stores and e-commerce, before a broader global rollout in May. A 100-ml. eau de parfum is priced at $290.
Coty executives would not discuss projections, but industry sources estimate the new line will generate 15 million euros in first-year retail sales.
Coty’s partnership with Jil Sander dates back to the 1980s, when the designer launched into fragrance. From that era, Jil Sander Sun ranks in the top 10 in Germany, the brand’s home market. Other key markets include Austria, Switzerland and the Nordics.
“The brand has not a global footprint yet,” said Holtzmann, adding there is great potential given there’s been traction on the business’ fashion side. “We’re building this for the long term. It’s meant to be the creative direction, or the creative gesture, that we want to have for Jil Sander.”