Carine Roitfeld is debuting her latest fragrance, with eyes on expanding into an international lifestyle brand, but has scrapped plans to launch her eponymous magazine in Russia in light of the country’s unprovoked invasion into Ukraine.
After entering into the fragrance category three years ago with a collection of seven perfumes called “7 Lovers,” the French fashion icon, longtime Tom Ford collaborator and former editor in chief of Vogue Paris (now Vogue France), is getting more personal this time with her new fragrance “Carine.”
“Unveiling my new fragrance ‘Carine’ is like walking naked down the Champs-Élysées. It is my most intimate journey, laying myself bare. Opening the door to my emotions, my memories, my thoughts, my dreams and my fantasies,” she said.
For the scent, which she worked on with master perfumer Dominique Ropion, Roitfeld wanted “something unexpected, something sensual and unpredictable,” taking inspiration from unique clothing and accessories she found, as well as small bottles filled with the essence of Patchouli that she discovered.
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The fragrance will launch in Paris Thursday, with the initial focus on Europe in Kith Paris and London’s Harrods department store, although it will be available worldwide through its website, priced at $260.
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Since leaving the art world six years ago to work with his mother, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, chief executive officer of CR Fashion Book, the media company that publishes the namesake biannual style magazine founded by Roitfeld, has been looking to build a lifestyle brand, stemming from the magazine, which began as a partnership with Hearst, but is now independently run. To date, the company has partnered with Sotheby’s, Mate E-Bikes, Grey Goose and Hong Kong’s K11 MUSEA, while Roitfeld has launched a range of calendars, T-shirts and the previously mentioned perfumes.
“I believed that if she had the right environment built around her we could really take her legacy and build from being a stylist and creative director into becoming a lifestyle brand. So, everything that we have done over the last few years is how can we expand our reach, how can we expand our community,” he said. “I would love to go into the shoe category, eyewear category, accessories category. I just think that we have and will have the ability to touch many categories.”
But while the plan for a lifestyle brand is in play, the print magazine remains core and Restoin Roitfeld is adamant that print is in its future despite magazines like InStyle going out of print.
“Print is our main business,” he continued. “We have been though very strong challenges like everyone over the past couple of years. We maybe miraculously survived or were able to readjust structurally and reimagine a little bit our direction but somehow we’re still here and we are performing very well. This is actually going to be our most successful spring issue in terms of pages that we’ve had. We have the support of so many brands, so many partners.”
It has also launched editions in Japan and China and was planning to launch in Russia. A spokeswoman told WWD Wednesday that it had paused its plans to launch in Russia prior to its invasion of Ukraine due to an issue with a supplier and printing. At the time, it was to be postponed for fall or holiday potentially, but now the plans are permanently on hold due to the military assault.
Earlier this week, Vogue Ukraine urged major fashion companies to place an embargo on Russia “in the wake of unprecedented military aggression from the Russian Federation and growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.”
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