It’s time to reimagine what a perfumer looks like.
In 2022, fragrance still feels white and heteronormative.
To this day, we use some pretty twisted terminology to talk about perfume.
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It’s also a term New York banned from use in statedocumentsin 2009 because it’s considered incendiary.
“Oriental wasn’t intended to be negative.
Collins' brand made history as the only Black-owned fragrance brand sold at Bergdorf Goodman.
The maverick ‘niche’ movement has been a game-changer.
“With the development of marketing and the explosion of the ’80s and ’90s, perfume became a commodity.
Now, with niche, it’s back to luxury.”
But it took Smith a moment before he was ready to dive into fragrance.
“With fragrances, you commit,” Smith says.
It’s intimidating that these few scents drive 100% of sales.”
“There were a lot of hits and misses,” Mwamba says.
“I couldn’t budget for expensive advertising.
I am self-taught, and I had to find my niche and own it.”
Through Mwamba’s efforts to build a social media following, Pink MahogHany found its fans.
Next Steps for the Fragrance Industry
So, what can the fragrance industry do to foster diversity?
It all starts with language.
“Language is powerful because it’s one way we can communicate about fragrance,” said Song.
“We need to find another way to speak to the concept,” Levy says.
Every single member of the Fragrance Foundation is responsible for eliminating that word.
I believe we can unite the community and find a way to make it right.
Smith thinks the fragrance industry can improve its diversity problems through a more inclusive marketing approach.
“They tend to feature caucasian movie stars and celebrities.
We wanted to include trans models, different ethnicities and showcase body positivity.
It’s time for the industry’s marketing to stop putting people in boxes.”
That change could be massively credited to buy-in from the largest, most powerful fragrance houses.
He’s long gone, and, consequently, I want him nowhere near my fragrance collection.
Those perfumers also look like Smith, Mwamba, and Song.
Now, when I close my eyes, they’re the ones I’ll see.
