Last month, Procter & Gamble and Alexander McQueen announced that the former’s Prestige business has signed a contract to enter into a license agreement to manufacture and sell designer fragrance products.
P&G takes on Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen fragrances
P&G has been expanding in the designer and prestige fragrance segment of late, having also taken the Stella MCCartney license on board, moves that industry experts believe may lead to further deals in the category.
P&G will begin to develop and market fragrances under the Alexander McQueen brand name to expand its business into the fine fragrance category.
The signing of the Alexander McQueen fragrance license is consistent with P&G Prestige's strategy to grow the business with strong brands with global leadership potential.
Does the wife choose your fragrance?
Meanwhile a new study released at the beginning of this month shows that men are more likely to select a cologne or aftershave because a partner likes it.
The 2013 Men's Fragrance Track study indicates that 63 per cent of adult males aged 18-64 wear fragrance at least occasionally, 23 per cent indicating they use it all of the time, with 40 per cent of men who wear a scent having just one bottle at home that they use.
Among male adults, when choosing a scent, the most important factor was that a woman or partner liked it, with the majority of teens (13-17) choosing to wear a fragrance to impress a girl.
Men were also found to shop for a long lasting fragrance that can be worn every day and for all occasions, with clean, masculine, and fresh attributes cited among the most important to men when selecting a fragrance.
IFRA updates safety regulations
As part of the industry’s on-going safety program, the International Fragrance Association has announced updates to its Code of Practice, with new and revised standards put in place at the end of June. The fragrance industry's safety program is founded on assessing fragrance materials and either establishing 'Safe Use Levels', or prohibiting their use, based on studying their potential effects on people and the environment.
Currently the safety program contains 186 'Standards', which restrict, or prohibit, the use of selected fragrance materials.
As per IFRA’s announcement, there are six new Standards based on the Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) methodology, four revised Standards, a new Standard restricting the use of Furfural, a new Group Standard prohibiting the use of 2,4-Dienals and 11 revised Standards which take into account the contributions of Schiff Bases.