This story is part of Glossy’s week-long look at the state of luxury, exploring what consumers and brands are deeming worthy of investment in 2024. To see all the stories in the series, click here.
When businessman Rande Gerber wanted to buy his wife a gift for her 50th birthday, he turned to a well-worn category to commemorate special occasions: perfume. However his wife, who happens to be the legendary supermodel Cindy Crawford, was not only not wanting for beauty products, she also didn’t like any available perfumes on the market.
“The first thing [Randy] said was, ‘She doesn’t wear perfume. She hates all the commercial perfumes and she won’t have it on her skin.’ So that was a really great starting point for me,” said London-based perfumer Azzi Glasser, who was tasked with creating a custom perfume to meet Crawford’s exacting tastes. Such a job is a standard order for Glasser, who is well-known for creating custom scents for everyone from Kylie Minogue to Helena Bonham Carter. And her expertise comes at a cost — £18,000 ($23,600) is the starting rate for one of Glasser’s bespoke creations.
“What do you get someone that has everything? That’s probably the most perfect present you can get,” said Glasser.
Fragrance prices have only increased in recent years, driven both by inflation and a growing class of knowledgeable fragrance consumers hungry for the best versions money can buy. But beyond the $300-$500 perfumes found at department stores and niche boutiques, there’s another, more elusive tier: custom perfume made for you and only you, free of any market demands or commercial trends and featuring the best ingredients money can buy.
“People are going way beyond the niche perfumery offerings now. They don’t want the commercial fragrances. They want something totally exclusive,” said Glasser.
If they can afford the exclusivity, that is. “There is no budget. These things just cost what they cost,” said Australian perfumer Craig Andrade of his bespoke perfume creations, the actual cost of which can climb into the thousands of dollars or upward of $10,000 for a run of two to 20 bottles.
Andrade is the founder of niche perfume house The Raconteur, where he creates perfumes and candles that are based on Australian botanicals and sell in the $60-$200 range. But he also maintains a steady stream of custom perfume orders for celebrity clientele whose identity he keeps confidential.
“It’s distinctly personal. The irony is you’re getting to the very real context of somebody who is so famous that it’s almost unclear what being real means. You’re getting to this very personal world of strong memory associations with particular experiences,” said Andrade of his custom work. “And then you’re crafting something of that personal nature, which is ultimately going to be beautiful to them. Whether it’s beautiful to anyone else or not is completely irrelevant.”
And it’s not only custom personal scents that high-end consumers are after — many are also looking to fully outfit their homes and living spaces with a bespoke olfactive experience. Andrade has translated his custom scents into room sprays and diffusers for his clients’ boats and even delivered skin-care products infused with his clients’ personal scents.
“They want anything that’s scented in the airplane or in the yacht to have that scent,” said Glasser of her work for living spaces. That extends to temporary spaces, as well, as her team has also created custom scents for parties and fashion shows. “We’re doing a private party in the Arctic or somewhere weird for New Year’s, for some very rich young guy inviting all his mates out to some rave.”
Few perfume fans will have the cash or opportunity to customize the scent of their yacht, but customization offerings are trickling down to a wider market, as well. Linda Pilkington, founder of British niche perfume house Ormonde Jayne, offers fully bespoke perfumes to the tune of roughly £10,000 ($13,000). But she’s also been experimenting with in-store customization services at a more affordable — relatively speaking — range, in the hundreds of dollars.
At her London boutique, Pilkington currently offers customers the chance to choose their preferred scent strength along with a custom bottle color and engraving for £250 ($328). She’s also been experimenting with what she calls a Scent IQ service, which would allow clients to build their own fragrance from pre-existing accords for roughly £500 ($657) each.
“Everybody wants experiences,” said Pilkington of the appeal of customization offerings.
Pilkington’s boutique often receives shoppers from the neighboring five-star Brown’s Hotel, where guests paying as much as $6,000 a night are in search of equally luxurious shopping excursions. But visitors are not only the uber-wealthy in search of premium, customized perfume. The store also attracts consumers willing to break the bank on a special experience.
“People don’t really even ask the price when they come into our boutique,” she said. “They’re just going to blow their money because they’re treating themselves to a big day out.”
With thousands of perfumes readily available on the market for as little as $150, spending $500 or five figures on a custom scent is a particular kind of indulgence. According to Andrade, the motivation for spending time and money on a custom fragrance goes beyond simple extravagance and reflects a finely-honed olfactive palette.
“My sense is it’s not driven by ego, or by, ‘I just want to have something that no one’s got,’” said Andrade. “I think it’s driven by, ‘I have a very good nose, and I have worn a lot, I’ve experienced a lot, and I also know what I’m looking for, which is something very, very tailored to me and my preferences.’”
And the appeal of owning a bottle of perfume that no one else can have goes almost beyond what money can buy.
“You have something that is your legacy, and you have that longevity that you can pass on to your kids or your grandchildren,” said Glasser. “It’s almost like the new trophy.”
Photo courtesy of Karlina Vitolina
