California Apparel News

For many apparel brands, the launch of a signature fragrance is part of a wide brand-building effort into new categories and products.

New York–based Crafting Beauty aims to make it easier for apparel companies and retailers to launch their own branded fragrance by helping to develop a signature scent, bottle and packaging and produce the final product.

Founded by Francois Damide, New York–based Crafting Beauty works with a team of perfumers, a designer and a sourcing manager to help develop a prototype that can be produced by a fragrance manufacturer in France. Before launching Crafting Beauty, Damide was president of the New York–based office of French textile mill Solstiss.

The cost to develop a fragrance—“what we call ‘the juice,’” Damide said—is $5,000 per product, which includes creation of the scent, the bottle and packaging, and one prototype of the finished product. The prototype process takes about two months, Damide said.

For production, the minimums for fragrances are between 1,000 and 3,000, depending on the product, and the cost is between $20 to $30 per unit for the minimum order. Production takes about three months.
 
In addition to perfume, the manufacturer can produce candles, body lotions, and other home and beauty products. To develop a candle, the prototype fee is $1,000, and the process takes about five weeks. The minimum for production orders is 250 units, and production can be delivered in about two months.

Damide is pitching Crafting Beauty to fashion labels, retailers, photographers and celebrities as a way to extend their brands.

“The point of Crafting Beauty is for the brand to sell the products via their own distribution network—such as their own e-commerce or own retail store—for them to have a great margin and recoup their investment fast,” he said.   

For companies looking to sell their products to fragrance retailers, Damide also offers additional sales and marketing consulting services to assist in reaching fragrance buyers for specialty retailers and department stores in the United States and Canada, according to Damide.

Crafting Beauty created fragrances for fashion photographer Christophe Jouany, candles for Paris spa Cinq Mondes and fragrances under the Arno Sorel brand. The company is currently working on developing prototypes for several celebrities—although Damide said he had signed a non-disclosure agreement and could not divulge any names.

For more information about Crafting Beauty and its services, visit www.craftingbeauty.com.—Alison A. Nieder