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Top Review
Enough of that!
No, it’s not bad.
A bit of ‘Terre d’Hermès’ (Pink Pepper/Iso E Super/Cedar/Vetiver), some Fougère references from ‘Bleu de Chanel’, a touch of ‘Eau Sauvage Parfum’ (Bergamot and Elemi), a hint of fluffy musk, and there you have the new supposed mega-seller.
Creativity is different, even in terms of naming and bottle design, but what can you do - without a cash cow, the best perfume house cannot survive.
The original ‘Dior Homme’ was made of different stuff: a bold, innovative scent, in a simple bottle that matched the Homme-Couture of Hedi Slimane at the time. The fragrance was praised everywhere, and Luca Turin even awarded it 5 stars, yet the sales figures left much to be desired.
Many years earlier, Chanel faced a similar fate: the initially celebrated ‘Egoïste’ became such a financial flop that they decided to play it safe and only presented the willing consumer with somewhat familiar offerings.
Dior now follows a similar motto.
After the idiosyncratic and bold ‘Dior Homme’, we got the thoroughly calculated, crowd-pleasing ‘Sauvage’, and now the no less calculated, streamlined, and thus globally marketable new ‘Dior Homme’.
But why on earth does this scent, so completely trimmed for mediocrity, carry the name of its anything but average predecessor? Does Dior want to rectify a supposed shortcoming? Is there even shame for the former extravagance?
The name ‘Sauvage’ was already a rather infamous camouflage, as the scent had zero to do with the in-house Roudnitska classic of the same name. At least ‘Eau Sauvage’ had a few decades under its belt, while the original ‘Dior Homme’ is only a few years old. But the house of Dior seems to lean towards rapid turnover anyway: the speed at which new fragrances are launched, while others are simultaneously discontinued, is becoming increasingly dizzying. Unfortunately, with the increasing breathlessness, the quality of the fragrances is also sadly sinking into the abyss: the only exclusive thing about the so-called ‘Privée’ line is basically the price. While the fragrances were initially demanding and unusual, they are now merely trivial.
The entire house of Dior is currently in quite a decline, at least concerning its own fragrances. The new ‘Dior Homme’ is a good example of this: everything about this scent is ‘safe’, everything. It is as ‘safe’ as a Nivea shower gel.
But, as I said, to keep a traditional house like Dior alive, such mass-appeal fragrances are probably necessary - let others burn their fingers for a change!
This also opens up space for creativity and innovation again. Chanel, Hermès, Guerlain, Cartier, Armani, and others show the way: mass market here, an exclusive niche there.
What I urgently wish for, dear people at Dior: stay away from the old fragrances! Create the most banal of banal scents if you must, but please find new names and bottles for them. And don’t link them to the great achievements of the past, which you only discredit by doing so.
Enough of that, please!
A bit of ‘Terre d’Hermès’ (Pink Pepper/Iso E Super/Cedar/Vetiver), some Fougère references from ‘Bleu de Chanel’, a touch of ‘Eau Sauvage Parfum’ (Bergamot and Elemi), a hint of fluffy musk, and there you have the new supposed mega-seller.
Creativity is different, even in terms of naming and bottle design, but what can you do - without a cash cow, the best perfume house cannot survive.
The original ‘Dior Homme’ was made of different stuff: a bold, innovative scent, in a simple bottle that matched the Homme-Couture of Hedi Slimane at the time. The fragrance was praised everywhere, and Luca Turin even awarded it 5 stars, yet the sales figures left much to be desired.
Many years earlier, Chanel faced a similar fate: the initially celebrated ‘Egoïste’ became such a financial flop that they decided to play it safe and only presented the willing consumer with somewhat familiar offerings.
Dior now follows a similar motto.
After the idiosyncratic and bold ‘Dior Homme’, we got the thoroughly calculated, crowd-pleasing ‘Sauvage’, and now the no less calculated, streamlined, and thus globally marketable new ‘Dior Homme’.
But why on earth does this scent, so completely trimmed for mediocrity, carry the name of its anything but average predecessor? Does Dior want to rectify a supposed shortcoming? Is there even shame for the former extravagance?
The name ‘Sauvage’ was already a rather infamous camouflage, as the scent had zero to do with the in-house Roudnitska classic of the same name. At least ‘Eau Sauvage’ had a few decades under its belt, while the original ‘Dior Homme’ is only a few years old. But the house of Dior seems to lean towards rapid turnover anyway: the speed at which new fragrances are launched, while others are simultaneously discontinued, is becoming increasingly dizzying. Unfortunately, with the increasing breathlessness, the quality of the fragrances is also sadly sinking into the abyss: the only exclusive thing about the so-called ‘Privée’ line is basically the price. While the fragrances were initially demanding and unusual, they are now merely trivial.
The entire house of Dior is currently in quite a decline, at least concerning its own fragrances. The new ‘Dior Homme’ is a good example of this: everything about this scent is ‘safe’, everything. It is as ‘safe’ as a Nivea shower gel.
But, as I said, to keep a traditional house like Dior alive, such mass-appeal fragrances are probably necessary - let others burn their fingers for a change!
This also opens up space for creativity and innovation again. Chanel, Hermès, Guerlain, Cartier, Armani, and others show the way: mass market here, an exclusive niche there.
What I urgently wish for, dear people at Dior: stay away from the old fragrances! Create the most banal of banal scents if you must, but please find new names and bottles for them. And don’t link them to the great achievements of the past, which you only discredit by doing so.
Enough of that, please!
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13 Comments
What if you connected the new wave of fragrances only with the names of the classics to draw attention back to them, so to speak, leading people to appreciate diversity through boredom, and then surprise everyone with a... oh, it would be so nice... but unfortunately, that's not the case, and it remains just a daydream.
You can read the entire mechanism of the perfume industry 2.0 in Dior.
Even the exclusive line... nothing special anymore, but it sells well at airports, like in Dubai.
In the meantime, I'm stocking up on my Diorella, my old Dioressence, my vintage Eau Sauvage.