Superdry, the British purveyor of low-key, laid-back streetwear, has blazed a trail on the back of word-of-mouth buzz since it launched in 2003.
The label now sells in 20 countries and has 60 stand-alone stores across the U.K., alongside flagships in the U.S., Australia, Europe and Asia. The brand’s parent company, Supergroup, made its debut on the London Stock Exchange last year and is currently valued at 706 million pounds, or $1.15 billion.
And now the label is turning its vintage-inspired aesthetic to the world of fragrance. This month, Superdry launches three fragrances for men: Superdry Dry, Superdry Double Dry and Superdry Dry Oil. They will be followed by two further men’s fragrances, Black and Steel, which will bow in November. And next year Superdry will launch a women’s fragrance for spring 2012, which James Holder, brand and design director at Superdry, said will be “a feminine take on the Dry family.” A total of five women’s and five further men’s Superdry fragrances are set to launch next year.
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“As Superdry is growing into a true international lifestyle brand, it’s a natural progression to evolve the Superdry spirit into a family of fragrances that capture the wide-reaching, layered appeal of the brand,” said Holder during a telephone interview.
The Superdry Dry fragrances range from the woody Superdry Dry, which combines notes of bergamot, red fruits, patchouli and vetiver to Superdry Dry Oil, a fougère that blends notes of lavender, iris, lemon and cardamom. The fragrances were blended by the British fragrance house CPL Aromas, and are produced under license by the Icon Partnership, another British company. All three fragrances are part of a group named Vintage. They will each retail for 55 pounds, or $89, for 100 ml.
Holder expects the Dry fragrances to appeal to a new, more mature customer for the brand, thanks to the fragrances’ “level of sophistication.”
“Dry captures the spirit of our leather jackets or tailored suiting — it’s a slightly older, deeper approach to fragrance, yet it’s still got an impeccable, edgy aesthetic,” said Holder. Black and Steel will, in contrast, have a younger appeal, both having a “sporty, citrusy kick,” said Holder.
The fragrances’ bottles also reflect Superdry’s subtly weathered look. The Dry fragrances all come in a chunky glass bottle with a distressed metal top, which Holder said has “the weightiness of a loaded whiskey glass.” The bottles are packaged in a rugged cardboard frame, and they will be displayed in ultramasculine units inspired by 1800s railroad trucks.
The fragrances will be sold at Superdry’s stand-alone stores and at department stores such as Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges in London from Sept. 4. In the U.S., the fragrances will launch in Superdry stores in September and will then launch at “a key retailer,” which Holder declined to name, for spring 2012.
And as with Superdry’s clothing collection, Holder doesn’t have specific marketing plotted for the fragrance. “We anticipate the experience of the packaging, the store display and strength of the scent to generate that same word-of-mouth marketing for the fragrance [as the clothing],” said Holder.