When describing his fragrance brand Fugazzi, Bram Niessink points to a somewhat unexpected comparison: Supreme, the streetwear brand that defined much of 2010s fashion and made a white box logo T-shirt into a coveted collector’s item on par with a designer bag.
“In 2017, when I used to live in the U.S., every Thursday, [Supreme] had a drop that was very limited, and people dressed fully in Gucci or Prada outfits to get a T-shirt for $40,” said Niessink. “I don’t want to create a brand based on price. I want to create a brand based on the community behind it and the feeling you have with it.”
Niessink, who founded Fugazzi in 2018 after graduating from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, also describes his perfume brand as “playful luxury.” That positioning, with full-sized perfumes starting at $120 a bottle, makes it an ideal fit for Sephora, which has been steadily expanding its fragrance selection from designer mainstays like Versace and Carolina Herrera to a new wave of niche brands, like Kayali and Borntostandout. In March, Fugazzi entered more than 100 U.S. Sephora doors and hosted a booth at Sephora’s Sephoria event in Los Angeles.
“At Sephora, we’re always looking for brands that offer something distinct while meeting the evolving needs and preferences of our clients. We know our customers value the opportunity to explore unique fragrances, especially those with education through strong founder voices and rich storytelling,” Carye Campbell, svp of fragrance merchandising at Sephora, told Glossy in a statement. “As we continue to expand our fragrance assortment, we’ve been so pleased to introduce our clients to Fugazzi — with its bold, avant-garde POV, Fugazzi offers unique scent profiles that drive discovery, inspired by ancient Egyptian oils and scents. We look forward to supporting the brand’s continued growth at Sephora and continuing to deliver the best in fragrance to our clients.”
Fugazzi, known for hits like the skin-scent Angel Dust and juicy citrus Orange Crush, was already on the upswing before coming to American Sephora stores. According to the brand, Fugazzi achieved 200% year-over-year growth in 2025 and was named the fastest-growing niche fragrance brand at Sephora U.K. The brand is sold in 52 countries, with flagship stores in its native Amsterdam and in Tokyo.
But Niessink wants Fugazzi to make the kind of scents that you stop and recognize on the street. And for that, there’s maybe no better platform than Sephora.
“[Sephora] gives you every opportunity you dream of. Sample runs of hundreds of thousands of pieces, big windows in the best locations in the world,” said Niessink. “They give you literally the golden podium.”
Breaking through the noise in an increasingly crowded fragrance section at Sephora requires scents that stand out while staying on trend — and on budget. While Fugazzi’s indie perfume retailers like Luckyscent and Arielle Shoshana stock its extrait de parfum concentration, which retails for $180-$225 for a full-sized bottle, Sephora offers its eau de parfum collection, with a lower concentration of perfume oil, keeping them more affordably priced at $120-$175 a bottle.
Niessink said expanding to the lower-priced tier was key to making it a fit for Sephora. It helps too that Fugazzi’s U.S. distributor Europerfumes had an existing relationship with the retailer, with many of its brands like Juliette has a Gun and Montale already on Sephora shelves.
“When I did the eau de parfum, it automatically became a very interesting segment for Sephora, because the price level was even sometimes lower than their prestige brands. And what happened with the prestige is they went downhill big time because of the niche category that was growing so fast,” said Niessink. “We have a very nice mix between, let’s say, Sephora with our eau de parfum collection, and we have the independent concept stores for the extrait. So we serve everyone in the market.”
Shortly after its launch at Sephora U.S., Fugazzi created the Sephora-exclusive Cloudh Nine, an airy take on oud by Givaudan perfumer Jordi Fernandez. It features Akigalawood, Givaudan’s proprietary captive that has become the backbone of best-selling perfumes from luxury brands like Ex Nihilo and Amouage. At launch, Cloudh Nine became Fugazzi’s best-selling fragrance at Sephora, though it has since been overtaken by Angel Dust, its global best-seller. In September, Fugazzi will launch a Sephora exclusive size of 10 milliliters, priced at $35, reflecting the growing demand for more affordably priced mini bottles.
But while Sephora gives the brand access to a massive audience, Fugazzi — perhaps taking cues from Supreme’s strategy of limited-edition drops — still reserves some of its creations for a more exclusive audience. In January, Fugazzi launched Matchabuya as an exclusive at its Tokyo and Amsterdam flagships.
“I try to create a very healthy balance, that you still are niche at the same time you are available at Sephora,” said Niessink.
Niessink attributes part of Fugazzi’s success to its ability to respond quickly to trends — its creamy Vanilla Haze, launched in 2024 at the height of demand for lactonic gourmands, went from conception to shelf in just six months. And with demand for perfumes and particularly niche perfumes still growing, there’s seemingly no end to the opportunity for new trends and brands to hit the market.
“I think perfume is a big part of a lifestyle now,” said Niessink. “In the fragrance game, people just don’t take one perfume anymore. It’s not enough. People want to feel very special.”
