JEDDAH, 26 May 2006 — Established perfume manufacturers are now increasingly concentrating on the luxury segment of the market, a visiting French perfume manufacturer said here on Wednesday night.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s biggest consumers of luxury perfumes,” Gilles Thevenin of the Paris-based Lubin said at the launch of his “Idole” luxury perfume for men at the Jeddah InterContinental.
According to him, the Kingdom enjoys a seven percent share of the world’s perfume market. “However, the Kingdom’s share of luxury perfumes is much more.”
Some 40 percent of the fragrances sold in France belong to the luxury segment, while it is 60 to 65 percent in the Kingdom, he said, adding that this segment is marking a rapid expansion. Explaining why established perfume manufacturers in France have been concentrating on the luxury segment, Thevenin said: “This is mainly because many countries are now producing and exporting perfumes. Aside from European countries and the United States excelling in the manufacture of perfumes, many other countries including China and India are now in business,” he said. He acknowledged the Middle East as having a tradition of perfumes for long.
Lubin’s perfume now returns to the Kingdom some 60 years after Hussein Bakry Gazzaz first imported the French company’s perfume. Lubin was established in 1798 and it changed its ownership to a group some time ago. “Although the perfume bears the old name, it’s my new creation,” said Thevenin who lately acquired France’s “oldest perfume manufacturing company.” The perfume has already become a “tremendous success” in France and Italy. He proposes to launch the product in Germany and Austria in September.
In his presentation, Thevenin said Idole, “the first fragrance for man,” was the first fragrance from Lubin that was launched at the beginning of the 20th century. “It’s the fragrance No. 466 launched by Lubin since 1798. “I launched Idole 60 years ago and have cherished it as one of the treasured fragrances of our successful operations,” Hussain Bakry Gazzaz told Arab News on the sidelines of a presentation held later.
“The relationship of Gazzaz with Lubin has remained strong over the years,” Ibrahim Mattar, general manager at the Hussain Bakry Gazzaz Company, said. “Gazzaz’s success in perfumery has been due to its sustained investment and introduction of new and high-quality fragrances,” he added.
