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Hi, and welcome back to Line Sheet. Glad we were able to get through April Fools, the worst of fake holidays. (That Jolie-Stanley Cup portable shower filter thing? Get a grip, Babenzien.)
Do you like luxury? Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll be back with more news from Paris. Today, though, [email protected] dives into the crazy-profitable world of perfume dupes. (And no, we’re not talking Designer Imposters, although looking back, what a name, what a statement. Good for them.)
Got a tip? Feel free to send me a message on WhatsApp: +1 646-241-3902. Signal works, too. Only dorks use Telegram.
Mentioned in this issue: Paul Tobar, Endeavor, The Menswear Guy, Delia Cai, Ben Affleck, Parfums de Marly, Ilaria Urbinati, Caroline Miller, Santal 33, Warren Alfie Baker, and many more…
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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| We’ve entered an era of unprecedented upheaval in media and communications, one with new rules, new players, and new ways of engaging people. It requires a mindset shift — both from agencies and clients — away from tactics and channels and toward repeatable strategies to attract, engage, and retain audiences.
Orchestra was born in the midst of this information upheaval. Created through the combination of BerlinRosen, Brightmode, Derris, Glen Echo Group, Inkhouse, M18, Message Lab, and Onward, we were designed from Day 1 to help clients thrive in this new, more complex environment.
A new kind of communications company, guided by a philosophy about what it takes to succeed in an ever-changing media world: Learn more about Orchestra’s new approach to strategic communications.
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- What the Endeavor take-private means for you…: Probably nothing, if you work at IMG Models, the Wall Group, or any part of the entity that is WME Fashion. If anything, Silver Lake’s $13 billion acquisition—a hefty premium for a company that the public market never understood—means that Endeavor can figure out what to do with that leg of the business, parts of which are very profitable, without shareholder pressure. (Disclosure: WME, a division of Endeavor, represents Puck.)
- Ben Affleck, emerging Line Sheet person of interest?: I’ve never really thought that hard about this man’s wardrobe—other than the low-brow brilliant Old Navy boxer briefs—until this past weekend, when he walked around New York City intentionally dressed in a Nirvana T-shirt and weird jeans. One faithful reader (who was worried I hadn’t seen Air, come on…) noted that his black studded attaché was a $1,295 Globetrotter variety, which this person referred to as “like Rimowa but for people who have taste.”
I couldn’t disagree more, they are nothing alike. Globetrotter luggage is boxy and trad—and very specific—whereas Rimowa is slick and industrial. Anyway, what is going on with Affleck? Day to day, I think it’s probably a matter of evolving with the times (and being influenced by your spouse, maybe), but it is worth noting that he has changed up his red carpet stylist in recent months. For years, his go-to was Ilaria Urbinati, one of the first Hollywood stylists to work primarily with guys (I profiled her for The New York Times about 10 years ago). However, I hear that in 2022, he did a stint with Caroline Miller, Urbinati’s former assistant. In recent months, he’s been working with Warren Alfie Baker, who most famously styles Glen Powell and Matt Bomer. Watch this space, maybe?
- The Deez Links Aftermath: Why does everything these days ladder back to the Central Editorial Team? By the time Line Sheet dropped on Monday, I have to admit that I knew the identity of the author of this week’s Hate Read on Deez Links, the Delia Cai media newsletter that got her hired at Vanity Fair. “Menswear is … a spindly glory hole,” was the start of the headline.
Delia is on the layoff list, according to reports, and so is the essay’s author, which is why I’m not naming him here. I know who he is, you probably know who he is (dude, you told way too many people), but there’s no need to out him to Stan and the rest of management. Anyway, the piece generated a lot of feedback and questions, including but not limited to:
“Is it Jian?” (Lol, he would never, he loves the game too much!)
“I want to know what Chris Black thinks of this. Wait, did Chris Black write this?”
“So, is this article anonymous?”
“I was with it until the 9/11 line.”
I’m going to stick with my original opinion, which is that this essay was fun to read and made a lot of good points. (I hope, for his sake, the guy behind Aimé Leon Dore can take a joke. If not, he’s going to end up like the one from Rowing Blazers.) Big picture learning here, though, is that Delia Cai is pretty smart and also currently wasting away in the Central Content unit, writing culturally significant profiles. (Today, she published yet another anonymous Hate Read that annoyed Twitter. This one is about media parties. I haven’t hate-read it yet.) Related: Have you noticed that Twitter has started to turn on The Menswear Guy? He’ll be fine, but he might have to switch to Threads.
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| And now over to Rachel… |
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| Dupes, I Did It Again |
| These days, perfumes at both the highest end of the market and the lowest are simultaneously booming. We’ve entered the Dupe Era. |
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| I’m fascinated by dupe culture, which has been growing like a vampire squid across the face of the beauty industry for the past couple years. In recent history, it was merely the blockbuster names, like Valentino or Viktor&Rolf, that were used as inspiration by mall chains. Now, watered-down versions of even the most popular niche scents abound, and the most recent additions come from Bath & Body Works. Last week, the retailer launched an Everyday Luxuries Collection of 10 “fine fragrance” mists—a.k.a. $19 dupes of scents like Parfums de Marly’s Delina, Maison Margiela’s Replica Sailing Day, Le Labo’s Santal 33, and Glossier You.
I went down a rabbit hole of dupes, thanks to a TikTok video from fragrance influencer Paul Tobar that broke down each new Bath & Body Works mist and the original perfume it’s likely inspired by. (By Tuesday, the video had more than 7 million views.) Tobar, a 28-year-old executive assistant in Chicago, is literally an expert on the subject, and his TikTok page highlights the 71 scents he’s identified thus far in his dupe journey. The most sought-after aspiration scent, he told me, was Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Baccarat Rouge 540, a potent eau de parfum that’s floral, woody, and amber-ish at the same time. It’s not for me personally, but this pricey pandemic hit (a 2.4 oz container costs $325 and the sparkling body oil is $215) has impressively maintained its internet virality nearly four years later. Tobar told me that Bath & Body Works’ In the Stars scent was a decent dupe: “It’s like 80-ish percent.” The New Rouge from Target’s Fine’ry line was “pretty good,” he continued, and people “swear by” Zara’s Red Temptation.
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
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| We’ve entered an era of unprecedented upheaval in media and communications, one with new rules, new players, and new ways of engaging people. It requires a mindset shift — both from agencies and clients — away from tactics and channels and toward repeatable strategies to attract, engage, and retain audiences.
Orchestra was born in the midst of this information upheaval. Created through the combination of BerlinRosen, Brightmode, Derris, Glen Echo Group, Inkhouse, M18, Message Lab, and Onward, we were designed from Day 1 to help clients thrive in this new, more complex environment.
A new kind of communications company, guided by a philosophy about what it takes to succeed in an ever-changing media world: Learn more about Orchestra’s new approach to strategic communications.
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| The dupe phenomenon has evidenced a fascinating trend emerging in the beauty industry—it’s a dynamic in which perfumes at both the highest end of the market (Creed, D.S. & Durga, and Parfums de Marly) and the lowest (affordable fragrance, especially body splashes and mists from Sol de Janeiro) are simultaneously booming. Sales for prestige body sprays have tripled over the last year, and sales of “private label mass brands,” a.k.a. dupes, grew by 94 percent, according to Circana, the consumer insights firm. And, unsurprisingly, there is M&A activity in the space. Yesterday, Monogram Capital Partners announced that it had taken a majority stake in Tru Fragrance & Beauty, the incubator behind Le Monde Gourmand. As you might imagine, the brand sells $25 perfume and body mists with sickeningly sweet names like Pistachio Brulée and Fraise Fouettée that smell like whipped sugar, vanilla cream, and milk vanilla mousse. |
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| What does all this say about the current condition of the human species? Since the dawn of time, cheaper versions of expensive things have always existed, sure, but what’s different now is the elevated sentiment around dupes, perhaps catalyzed by changing whims of the TikTok generation. Tobar credited e.l.f. Cosmetics, a nearly flawless brand, for making dupes not only acceptable, but desirable. “I respect the art of perfume, but I feel like a scent profile with wide, mass appeal deserves to be accessible at a price that is good for everyone,” Tobar told me. A beauty industry millennial added that finding a dupe is now apparently a flex with Gen Z. “It’s not cool to be above it,” they said.
Yes, yes, imitation is flattery on some level. For a luxury brand to be copied, duped, knocked off, whatever, is affirmation; if no one is trying to re-create what you’re doing, it means what you’re doing probably sucks. There will always be luxury and aspirational consumers who want the real thing––and there will always be a market for budget options. But dupes aren’t simply cheaper options, they’re much cheaper, and this high-low mix largely avoids cannibalization.
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| Thwarting dupes is also a fruitless exercise, both legally and from a public relations perspective. And brands that are concerned with capturing the customer at the lower end, or just increasing market share, have other options. To wit: Many inevitably make smaller, cheaper bottles, perhaps under $100, that lead to repeat purchases and possible trade-ups. This sector is thriving too, by the way. Units sold of women’s fragrances in under 1 oz bottles increased at five times the rate of bigger sizes last year, per Circana.
Le Labo and Tom Ford Beauty already offer teeny tiny 15 ml and 10 ml sizes for a modest $99 and $80, respectively. Those are still wild prices for one-third to one-half of an ounce of perfume, but way less than a full-size bottle. Once, because I wasn’t near a store at the time (Puglia) and didn’t want to spend over $300 on a scent I may hate, I ordered a travel size Le Labo Gaiac 10. My husband calls it a fragrance for creative directors with man buns who follow Nolita Dirtbag, but whatever, I love it, and eventually graduated to the $485 bottle. It really does take forever to finish, I swear.
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| That’s it from Rachel and Me. Oh, and P.S., congrats to Highsnobiety and Willa Bennett (!!!) for winning an ASME. This only matters to a very small number of people, but I’m pretty sure they all read Puck. Willa, feel free to gloat.
Until tomorrow,
Lauren
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| FOUR STORIES WE’RE TALKING ABOUT |
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| Gates Donor Murmurs |
| Chronicling the arrival of 24-year-old billionaire Rory Gates. |
| TEDDY SCHLEIFER |
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| McCaul to Action |
| Chatting about Rep. McCaul’s push to back Ukraine aid. |
| JULIA IOFFE |
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