What does a fragrance licensee actually do?

By Arthur Cukier

Short answer: a fragrance licensee holds the right to create and sell perfumes under a brand it does not own. In return, it carries the whole fragrance business: creation, production, distribution and marketing. It pays the brand owner a royalty on sales.

Most people never see this part of the industry. They see a famous name on a bottle and assume the fashion house made it. Very often, a licensee did. At Perfume Street, we are the exclusive worldwide licensee of Borsalino Fragrances. Borsalino has made hats in Alessandria since 1857. We make the perfumes.

The brand owner gives us its story

A licence starts with trust. The brand hands over its name, its codes and its history. Our first job is to understand that DNA and protect it. Every decision after that has to feel like the house, not like us.

We build the fragrance world

We set the artistic direction. We brief master perfumers and choose the juices. For the Art of Love Collection, Amber Note and Rose Note were composed by perfumer Nicolas Bonneville. We design the bottle, the cap and the box with the brand's teams. We write the story each fragrance tells.

We make it, and we sell it

We plan production, source components and manage quality and compliance. Then we take the fragrance to market. That means retailers, distributors and travel retail, country by country. It also means training sales teams, sampling, PR and content.

Why brands choose a licence

Fragrance is its own craft and its own business. A hat maker or a fashion house rarely has a perfume team, a supply chain and retail relationships in thirty markets. A good licensee brings all of that. The brand gets a fragrance line that grows its image and its income, without building a new company.

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