Vera Strubi, one of the most influential figures in world fragrance marketing, plans to retire at the end of the year as president of Thierry Mugler Parfums Worldwide.
In 1992, Strubi launched the iconic and esoteric fragrance Angel by Thierry Mugler, Groupe Clarins first fragrance. She was among the perfume industry leaders to perfect the model of the smash-hit, designer-niche fragrance during the Nineties.
Mugler’s Angel scent for women is considered a ground-breaking achievement in the industry for its innovative “edible” accords, including a chocolate note, and the coherence of its advertising, packaging and merchandising with the designer’s image. In the late Nineties, Angel was said to have topped Chanel No. 5 in the prestige fragrance rankings in France for much of a year.
“Over the last 15 years, Thierry Mugler has grown into an international and prestigious brand,” Strubi said in an internal corporate letter sent to employees on Wednesday. It “not only has achieved a leading position in most countries, but has also brought an important financial contribution to the group.”
Angel is still a top three fragrance brand worldwide. It was rolled out in the U.S. in 1994.
Benjamin Gillikin, president of the Clarins Fragrance Group, which handles Thierry Mugler Parfums in the U.S., said that what always surprised him about the Angel brand was “the loyalty aspect of the consumer. I’ve never seen anything that held the attention of the consumer as long as it has,” he said.
In discussing his relationship with Strubi, Gillikin said, “I’ve been in this business for 38 years and I’ve never worked with someone who is such a fine individual with as much integrity, and who is as bright as hell, with the ability to just keep things moving through different dimensions.”
The announcement of Strubi’s retirement came only a week after she made a major presentation in New York about a highly unusual and innovative new fragrance concept based on the different moods and themes in a book, called “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” which was made into a movie starring Dustin Hoffman. The film is set to be released in France next month and in the U.S. in December.
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For the project, Thierry Mugler Parfums teamed with fragrance supplier International Flavors & Fragrances to create a limited-edition box of 15 scents based on the best-selling Patrick Süskind novel. To celebrate the movie, the two companies have manufactured 1,500 Le Parfum boxes. Each set is to sell for 550 euros, or $698 at current exchange.
Aura, included in the set, is the only scent from Le Parfum that could become part of the Mugler fragrance catalogue on a full-time basis. The innovative aspect of the fragrance concept was underscored by the fact that Aura is meant to be used as an intensifier for other fragrances. The company is thinking about relaunching it as a stand-alone product, possibly as soon as next year.
“I have been working with Joël Palix [named general manager of Thierry Mugler Parfums in 2002] for more than four years and fully trust him to carry on the brand philosophy in the future,” Strubi said in the letter.
Strubi joined Clarins in 1990, after working at Parfums Montana, as president of Mugler Parfums. In addition to Angel, in 1996 she launched Mugler’s men’s scent A-men, which is sold as Angel Men in the U.S.