Knockoff Fragrances Leave Industry Gasping : A Rose--and an Imitation Scent--May Smell as Sweet
It looks and smells like Giorgio perfume. But is it? It may be Giorgio. Or it may be Primo, or Juliano, or another imitation fragrance that smells like the trendy designer perfume but costs much less.
The imitation scents, which have recently appeared on the shelves of chain drug and variety stores, have stunned the image-conscious $3.8-billion fragrance industry. Just two months ago, a miffed Giorgio quit the Fragrance Foundation, an industry group, after smell-alike Primo was nominated for an industry award.
Those who make imitation scents, known in the industry as impostors or knockoffs, are unperturbed.
“We think our scents are just as good as the designers’,” declared Mark A. Laracy, president of Parfums de Coeur, the Stamford, Conn., company that makes Primo. “We say, ‘If you like Giorgio, you’ll love Primo.’ Let the woman decide for herself.”
Many women, it seems, like what they smell. Retail sales of imitations reached $100 million last year and are expected to hit at least $150 million this year, said Allan G. Mottus, an industry consultant based in New York. “The demand is unbelievable,” he said.
The knockoffs appeal to women who care about their image and pocketbook, industry sources said. “They enjoy the status of wearing a designer perfume but can’t afford the original,” said a buyer for a major retail chain.
Imitation scents are possible because fragrances can’t be trademarked. Many knockoffs have names strikingly similar to the original, although most state on their packaging that they are imitations. One Obsession imitation is named Ecstasy. A Vanderbilt knockoff is named Fairchild. A Halston imitator is named Hampton.
Some flaunt their copycat status. Lenox Laboratories, based in New York, named its line of imitations The Great Pretenders. Van Nuys-based Action Industries named its line of knockoffs The Fabulous Fakes.
Though the names may be similar, prices are not. One ounce of Confess, a knockoff cologne, retails for $7.50, compared to $28.50 for an ounce of Obsession, the Calvin Klein fragrance sold with the help of suggestive--and often controversial--television and magazine ads.
The growth of imitation scents comes at a time when sales of other fragrances are shrinking. Analyst Mottus said unit sales for other scents fell between 3% and 5% last year. Except for knockoffs, “the business stinks,” he said.
Knockoff manufacturers say they are able to charge less for knockoffs because they don’t spend much on advertising and because their packaging is plain.
Last year, for example, Calvin Klein Cosmetics spent more than $17 million to launch Obsession, which racked up $30 million in sales. Parfums de Coeur, with sales of $30 million last year, spent just $3 million to promote its entire product line.
Obtained Injunctions
A number of designer fragrance companies have sued imitation makers, accusing them of trading on the names that cost them millions to build.
“We intend to do whatever is necessary . . . to prevent Obsession from being used in a deceptive way,” said Gary Schmidt, lawyer for Calvin Klein Cosmetics.
Calvin Klein has obtained federal court injunctions against four imitation makers that it accuses of misrepresentation. It recently filed another lawsuit, this time against Parfums de Coeur, which makes Confess.
“They are just suing whomever they can to get higher visibility for their products,” said Frank Araca, executive vice president of Lenox Laboratories, against which Calvin Klein has obtained an injunction. “If people don’t know the difference between our product and theirs, they’ve wasted a lot of money on advertising.”
But Araca said that to avoid further problems, its fragrance packages are now imprinted with a “bigger disclaimer” that states that the knockoff is not related to Obsession or other designer scents.
For the most part, the lawsuits concern the way that imitations use the name of a designer fragrance in the advertisements and on their packaging. One imitation manufacturer, Westport Laboratories, changed the wording of its advertisements and packaging to settle a lawsuit filed against it by Giorgio.
Westport now describes its Giorgio imitation as “Juliano, the alternative to Giorgio,” instead of “the Giorgio alternative.” Katy Sweet, a Giorgio spokeswoman, said the new wording ensures that the customer “won’t be confused.”
Though just a few companies now make imitations, industry analysts expect their number to grow--for several reasons. Analysts say that many popular fragrances are easy to copy. Today’s scents are bold and fruity, making it simple “to pick up a few tones and have something very close to the original,” said a fragrance industry executive.
Industry sources also said women are using fragrances more. “Women used to look upon fragrances as a luxury product to be used on special occasions, like a Saturday night out,” said Annette Green, president of the Fragrance Foundation. Now, Green said, women use “a wardrobe of fragrances” to “lift their moods, help them relax or feel romantic.” Green said research shows that women use three or four different scents during a year.
Imitation scents have been available by mail order for some time. Some, like the Great Perfumes Collections, even offer free jewelry with an order for their budget perfumes, which include labels like “22990 Our Publicity Version of Obsession.”
But it is the emergence of imitations in national retail stores that is viewed as something new. Mottus, the industry consultant, said that although retail sales may only be one-third as large as the mail-order sales, the retail market represents “a longer-term threat.”
Companies such as Westport Laboratories and Parfums de Coeur are “well-capitalized companies, pumping the bucks into their businesses,” he said. The owners of those businesses share a background in the designer fragrance industry.
Laracy of Parfums de Coeur, for instance, is a former vice president at Charles of the Ritz and started his career in marketing at Prince Matchabelli. Samford of Westport is a former Prince Matchabelli president.
Samford formed Westport to make cosmetics laced with collagen, a protein that was supposed to help smooth facial wrinkles. But after Giorgio rang up $100 million in sales, Samford saw an opportunity in knockoff scents. “I said to myself, ‘This is too good to be true,’ ” he said.
Some women would agree. Ginny Haney, a Giorgio user, was so impressed with the Great Pretenders knockoff of Giorgio that she bought in a Tulsa, Okla., drugstore that she later bought eight more bottles and gave some as gifts to friends.
“It’s so much like Giorgio,” she said, “except for the price.”
