Fragrances Are Feted, But Industry Players Smell Trouble

By CHRIS SCHMIDT

Organizers and participants alike describe the Fragrance Foundation's annual "FiFi" awards show as "the Oscars of the fragrance industry." But this year's awards, which took place last week at Avery Fisher Hall, felt more like that other entertainment awards show, the Tonys.

It wasn't only that Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein hosted the FiFis less than 24 hours after his win for best actor in a musical: Like the Tonys, the FiFi awards show is an insular, insidery fete that teeters on the edge of irrelevancy. And this year's FiFis seemed to give voice to a sense of discontent within the industry. Fragrance Foundation chairman Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne told the audience, with that European way of making the brutal seem charming, that it had been a rough year in the scent trenches: "We launched more, but sold less; spent more, but made less. Consumers just didn't seem to care," he said.

Despite flagging fragrance sales, or perhaps to combat them, this year's awards made a sally towards greater visibility. On May 6 th, for the first time ever, the nominees for the FiFis were publicly announced, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, by CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. The announcement was later repeated by MTV personality Hilarie Burton at the perfumery at Bloomingdale's.

But how much does the public care about awards like "Bath & Body Star of the Year" and "Best Packaging of 2002"? And more importantly, does winning a FiFi affect the sales of a perfume or cologne?

"I don't think so," said Walter Johnson of Cosmopolitan Cosmetics, taking up the latter question. "It's really more for industry recognition." Mr. Johnson had three fragrances competing; when his best bet for winning,Gucci Eau de Parfum, lost in the Women's Nouveau Niche category to Vera Wang's new signature fragrance, a gust of disappointment swept through the row where he and his team were seated.

Before the ceremony began, Mr. Johnson explained that a creative director's role is to oversee the design of the perfume's bottle and packaging, to conceptualize advertising, and, in his case, even to "create the juice" -- industry jargon for the liquid inside the bottle.

But often a scent is created by a specialized olfactory expert -- dubbed, in the industry, a "Nose." Mr. Johnson elaborated on this figure's importance: "Just as there are Picassos of art, there are Picassos of Noses." (The theme of this year's award shows was, incidentally, "Fragrance and Art," though this was manifested only in a multi-media presentation in which clips of Dali, Warhol, and Pollock painting were intercut with fragrance commercials.)

Outside the entrance to Avery Fisher Hall, a red carpet had been installed, but celebrities -- even those known mainly within the fashion world -- were scarce. Handbag designer Kate Spade's arrival created a small stir among the assembled television journalists, but left bystanders wondering, "Who's that? " Ms. Spade's husband, menswear designer Jack Spade, stood back patiently while his wife answered reporters' questions.

Ms. Spade and Ms. Wang excepted, most designers whose names graced the bottles were not in attendance. Indeed, creative directors were just as likely to thank the cap, plug, and joint manufacturers of their bottles as they were to acknowledge Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren, who were both multiple winners.

Considerably upping the (virtual) celebrity wattage was Jennifer Lopez, whose perfume, Glow, won an award. Never one to forget her core constituency, in a video feed from a Vancouver movie set, Ms. Lopez thanked the sales representatives: "You were the ones who believed in this product," she said.

Thanks to Mr. Fierstein, who peppered the proceedings with bawdy quips, brevity and levity ruled the night. In fact, participants seemed impatient to get the show over with and move on to dinner, which was served in a tent erected for the occasion on the opposite side of Lincoln Center's plaza.

When the night's final winner, the creative director of Vera Wang, took too long on the podium, the audience tried to applaud her off the stage, to no avail. After Mr. Fierstein regained control of the microphone, he joked, still in Tony Awards mode, "I think Eugene O'Neill wrote that speech."