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In a seeming twist, Puig—not L’Oréal, as had been rumored—is the conglomerate now set to acquire Byredo. Puig did not reveal financial details of the deal. (Puig declined comment to Retail Brew, pointing us to a press release about the acquisition.)
Byredo, founded in 2006, offers a range of fragrances, candles, and cosmetics and is a hot-ticket beauty brand, growing 63% YoY, according to Business of Fashion. In 2021, the company reported $134 million in sales, up from $70 million in 2019.
Chemical romance: For Puig, which counts the likes of Carolina Herrera and Jean Paul Gautier as part of its beauty and fashion portfolio, the deal marks a play for the niche fragrance market.
“Niche fragrances are like this new subset of prestige or luxury fragrances that are being marketed differently,” Marie Driscoll, managing director of luxury and fashion at Coresight Research, told Retail Brew. “These are fragrances that you don’t smell everybody wearing. They lend an air of mystery to the wearer, so that you lean in and ask, ‘What are you wearing?’...It’s playing on exclusivity, and how that makes you feel special.”
- Although Byredo has gained more recognition over the past few years, stepping into the mainstream, it still has a niche audience, an added benefit for Puig, according to David Schneidman, director at Alvarez & Marsal Consumer and Retail Group.
“With that, they definitely have the ability to continue to evolve and grow not only with the brand proposition that the company already has but then leveraging the machine of distribution and capital investment to drive that market awareness,” he said. “It’s a huge opportunity for them.”
- He added that Byredo had a unique brand proposition and the new deal would provide them with more capabilities and distribution.
A new accord: While the jury’s out on whether Byredo can be considered fully niche, both Driscoll and Schneidman agreed that beauty brands within the category, like Byredo, that have stepped away from more traditional gendered marketing have seen more recent success.
“Gender-neutral and more men’s cosmetics will start [to become] more important,” Schneidman said. “[Companies] are going to be leveraging these other types of inclusive brands to continue to expand their reach with men, women, nonbinary, and then across all the different types of ethnicities and nationalities, because everyone…wants a brand speaking to him or her...And I think these conglomerates are starting to recognize this.”—JS