British high-street brand Reiss, and a favorite of the Duchess of Cambridge, is having a go at fragrances with the launch two scents - one for men and one for women.
David Reiss, the brand's managing director, tapped Azzi Glasser of Family Three to develop the scents.
"David told me he hates commercial fragrances," Glasser told WWD. "He said, 'I just don't like fragrances that smell the same. I can't tell the difference between them. The only difference is the brand and the logo.' So we set out to create something that would really stand out.
"I was really inspired by Reiss' attention to detail and artisanal approach to working with fashion; I remember talking to David about cotton for half an hour once," said Glasser.
After two years of development, Glasser has come up with Reiss Grey Flower for women and Reiss Black Oudh for men. "I wanted them to smell really sexy," she explained. "But not like every other 'sexy' fragrance out there. Sexy but something you can wear all day."
For Grey Flower consists of armoise and pimento berry at the top, sequoia wood, jasmine Noir and cocoa leaf at the heart, and olibanum, amber crystals, patchouli and baies as the base notes.
Black Oudh has laurel leaf and green Cyprus, moving into a heart of sequoia wood, clary sage and vetiver, with a base of black oudh, black musk and amber.
Both scents will sell for 49 pounds, or about $74 at current exchange, for a 100-ml. bottle, and 35 pounds, or $53, for 50 ml. The women's scent is also available in a 30-ml. size for 25 pounds, or $38.
The fragrances will launch exclusively at Selfridges, selfridges.com and in Reiss stores and online on Sept. 19, and then will roll out to reach 1,000 doors internationally.
Additional fragrances will follow in 2014 and Reiss has not ruled out moving into color cosmetics, although he insists, "For now we want to deliver exciting and sensual fragrances that fire our customers' enthusiasm for the brand and explore the spectrum of what fragrance has to offer."
