The Fragrance Foundation has held its annual awards with a glamorous gala in New York City.
Though scent is subjective, the event, first established in 1973, was created to acknowledge the most influential, innovative and exciting perfume launches each year. Categories are voted on in three ways, by Fragrance Foundation members, by an expert panel specific to certain categories and by the general public for the Consumer Choice categories.
The awards, also known as the “Oscars of the fragrance industry”, also honours key industry figures for their work furthering the success and popularity of perfume.
Stars including Cate Blanchett, longtime face of Giorgio Armani’s Sì fragrance, Diane Kruger, Keke Palmer and Michelle Pfeiffer were among the guests on hand to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the awards.
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While many consumers and brands are moving away from categorising its fragrances as ‘men’s’ and ‘women’s’ perfumes, for the purposes of the awards these distinctions remain. There are also distinctions given to different retail position classifications like ‘luxury’ vs ‘popular’.
For this reason it’s impossible to identify a ‘best-of the-best’ winner, however Prada’s recent fresh and bright release Paradoxe certainly proved its popularity by taking out both Women’s Prestige Fragrance of the Year and the public-voted Consumer Choice, Women’s Prestige.
In the high end, Chanel’s Gabrielle Chanel Parfum Spray was awarded Women’s Luxury Fragrance of the Year, while Tom Ford’s Noir Extreme took out Men’s Luxury Fragrance of the Year.
Marking its success and enduring appeal over the 18 years since it was created, Viktor & Rolf’s supremely popular floral perfume Flowerbomb was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
This year’s Lifetime Achievement Perfumer honoree was IFF master perfumer Anne Flipo, one of the noses behind Lancôme’s La Vie Est Belle and YSL Libre.
The 2023 Hall of Fame award was awarded to L’Oréal chief executive officer Nicolas Hieronimus.
Winners:
Fragrance of the Year, Universal Luxury: Gucci The Alchemist’s Garden Tears From The Moon Eau de Parfum
Winners: Fragrance of the Year, Universal Prestige: Maison Margiela Replica When The Rain Stops
Fragrance of the Year, Women’s Luxury: Chanel Gabrielle Chanel Parfum Spray
Fragrance of the Year, Women’s Prestige: Prada Paradoxe Eau de Parfum
Fragrance of the Year, Men’s Luxury: Tom Ford Noir Extreme Parfum
Fragrance of the Year, Men’s Prestige: Hermès Terre d’Hermès Eau Givrée Eau de Parfum
Fragrance of the Year, Popular: Nest New York Golden Nectar Eau de Parfum
Consumer Choice, Women’s Prestige: Prada Paradoxe Eau de Parfum
Consumer Choice, Popular: Billie Eilish Eilish No. 2
Consumer Choice, Men’s & Universal: Ralph Lauren Polo Blue Parfum
Perfume Extraordinaire of the Year: BDK Parfums Gris Charnel Extrait de Parfum
Packaging of the Year, Luxury: Christian Louboutin Loubimar
Packaging of the Year, Prestige / Popular: Jean Paul Gaultier Le Beau
Indie Fragrance of the Year: Amouage Opus XIV Royal Tobacco
Innovative Fragrance Product of the Year: Veronique Gabai Aroma Heart
Lifetime Achievement Perfumer Award: Anne Flipo, Master Perfumer at IFF
Hall of Fame Award: Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal
Media Campaign of the Year: Paco Rabanne Invictus
Fragrance Editorial of the Year, Print or Digital: Town & Country: “Why Fragrances With Green Notes Are Going to Be Everywhere in 2023” by April Long
In the wider nominees list, announced earlier this year, there were a number of more niche releases that have found significant popularity on social media, including Phlur’s Missing Person, a scent said to smell like ‘the lingering scent of your lover’s skin’, and Ariana Grande’s musky Mod Vanilla.
