Word: dior
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Surrounded by hundreds of decanters of Dior's latest fragrance, J'adore, Bernard Arnault, 50, swivels in an ergonomic chair at the head of a metallic gray conference table on the 16th floor of midtown Manhattan's new LVMH tower. Forget Calvin, Ralph and even Giorgio or Miuccia--this narrow-faced, thin-lipped, dimpled Frenchman is the most powerful person in fashion today...
...founder and president of luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Arnault controls, in addition to the eponymous leather goods and spirits brands, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Celine, Kenzo, Christian Lacroix, Tag Heuer, Dom Perignon, Ebel, two Paris department stores, the DFS duty-free chain and the Sephora perfumery-shops, among other brands. Lately, he has been acquiring new companies at the rate of one a week: Bliss, Hard Candy, Fendi, Pucci, Urban Decay. "We look for hot companies, still small," says Arnault in his accented English, his voice a clipped tenor. "No one can do as much with...
...brings in the buzz that drives the biz, Arnault hires edgy, critically acclaimed young designers who never made a centime of profit when they ran their own houses but who excel at engaging, exciting and infuriating the fashion press. Arnault points to John Galliano's spring collections for Dior this year as typical of what he wants from his designers. "His ideas are not meant to be worn," Arnault says of the avant-gardish collection of bag-lady-style ball gowns, "but the ideas descend down to pret-a-porter and to everything in the line. And that's what...
...Youth Dew. Lauder's first limited-edition fragrance release was A Garden of Pleasures--three scents that highlighted different notes from the perfume Pleasures, launched in 1995. Says Khoury: "We saw double-digit increases in sales of the core Pleasures fragrance while A Garden of Pleasures was on counter." Dior positioned Lily, its 1999 limited-edition release, as a modern interpretation of the 1956 classic Diorissimo. Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Lancome have all put limited-edition scents into the marketplace. Escada has launched its eighth annual limited-edition scent, called Lily Chic...
Even in a growing bouquet of scents, the direct impact of a successful fragrance on a house's bottom line can be significant. LVMH reports that in the last quarter of 1999 alone, J'Adore, a Dior perfume released in September, generated $53 million in European sales. The larger houses, which frequently sell cosmetics and skin-care lines as well as perfumes, especially value fragrances for their ability to entice shoppers to other products in the franchise. "When you can bring a customer to the counter because of a scent," says Lauder's Khoury, "she's much more open...