As the world of perfumery has advanced with time, so have the consumers. What started out as a monopoly of a few big brands is today a vastly segmented market where artisans and standalone perfumers who aren’t associated to any brand, are staring their own fragrance line.
To understand what a Niche fragrance is, one must first understand a very simple concept of ‘Target market ’. In simple words, a target market is that segment of society that a producer of a certain commodity, targets. Therefore, keeping in lines with the above definition, the target market for cool water by Davidoff, is very wide. They want it to be used by everybody who can afford it and make it more accessible by offering various sizes, beginning from 40 ml and ranging to 200ml. A brand like Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Davidoff, etc is looking for mass appeal and they want as many people as possible to use their fragrance. The downfall of these designer fragrances is that they often become a victim of their own popularity. Cool water by Davidoff has become so popular that today it is very common for us to come across someone who wears the fragrance; the same is for Acqua di Gio and a lot other designers.
To address this issue, we have what is known as ‘Niche Fragrances‘.
Niche fragrances derive their origins from the word ‘Niche‘, which by the book refers to a ‘ Particular & Select ‘ section of the demography (i.e. people). These niche companies cater to those who want a fragrance that is not common or in most cases is used only by a few people. The quality of ingredients used by them is vastly superior as compares to your designer releases and master perfumers such as ‘ Dominic Ropion ‘ , ‘J.C Ellena’, ‘ Roja Dove ‘ and many more blend them to such excellence and exuberance, that they are a delight to any person who comes across them. The skills of a perfumer and the ingredient quality go a long way to determine the overall ‘Soul & Character‘ of a fragrance.
The motto of these niche brands is to provide top notch quality to their consumers and only use the finest ingredients available to them. That’s why often niche fragrances may go out of stock and be not available for a while, because they are not mass produced like designer fragrances. They are produced in limited batches because as you all know that when you use only the finest ingredients, often you have to wait to procure them, depending on the weather and seasons. A popular ingredient such as ‘ Rose De Mai’ which is native to the French city of Grasse, is often harvested only during the month of May during a particular time in the early morning, this ensures that the ‘ Soul ‘ of the fragrance is efficiently captured (Essential oil ).
