[Shinsegae International] Strengthens niche perfume business
Signed a contract for exclusive distribution with new perfume brands 'HEELEY, CULTI'
- Expand the perfume line-up by securing new brands HEELEY and CULTI
- Started selling French niche perfume brand HEELEY on its own online mall S.I.VILLAGE earlier this month
- Italian total fragrance brand CULTI, full-fledged service starting from the launch in July.
- Niche perfume market growth potential is still high, promote the business by actively discovering a new brand
Shinsegae International strengthens niche perfume business by adding two new perfume brands one after another.
Shinsegae International announced that it would expand the brand lineup by signing an exclusive distribution contract with French niche perfume HEELEY and Italian luxury total fragrance brand CULTI on the 1st of this month. This enables Shinsegae International to have a total of ten perfume brands including DIPTYQUE, BYREDO, SANTA MARIA NOVELLA, MEOMO PARIS, and HERMES.
Recently, Korean perfume market has been reorganized around high-priced niche perfumes. With the rise of small pleasure and small luxury (small indulgence) trend, popularity of niche perfume has risen as more consumers are looking for ‘my own scent’ that is high in price but different from others. In fact, popular niche perfume brands run by Shinsegae International has grown by more than double digits every year.
Shinsegae International plans to actively secure a new brand that is little-known in Korea, judging that the Korean niche perfume market will continue to grow, and further to foster them as a popular brand like DIPTYQUE.
First, Shinsegae International will launch and start selling HEELEY, high-end French niche perfume brand, on its own online mall S.I.VILLAGE on the 5th of this month. Staring from the second half of this year, HEELEY will also be available at the offline store such as LA PERVA, beauty select shop in major department stores in Korea, and Bundershop Cheongdam.
HEELEY is a luxury perfume brand launched in Paris, France in 2006 by British perfumer James Heeley, and is best known for using only high-quality, rare, and unique ingredients. The entire process from product planning, making perfume, to package design is done in an independent and creative manner based on the in-house system. This is the secret to keep HEELEY's creative and unique scent and concept, which cannot be found in others. It is loved by Korean perfume manias looking for new scents, and there were many inquiries about where to buy or try even before its official launch because there was no official seller in Korea.
The signature and brand's first perfume, Menthe Fraiche made mint scents, which used to be difficult to handle because of its strong and simple scents, easy and elegant that everyone loves. Combined mints with Sicilian bergamot, green tea, and white cedar, it creates a refreshing and modern feeling.
In July, Shinsegae International will then launch Italian luxury fragrance brand, CULTI. CULTI was founded in Milano in 1988 by Alessandro Agrati, former home designer. He turned into a perfumer when realized that there was a unique scent in the space and object, and that he could create a pleasant space by using the sense of smell. Starting with home fragrance such as diffuser, room spray, and candle, it has now established itself as a total fragrance brand, offering perfume and body products. It is also famous for being the first to introduce a rattan wood stick (reed stick) that helps to release the scent of diffuser.
CULTI’s signature milk bottle diffuser was inspired by the the milk bottle that was delivered every morning to the door when Alessandro was a child. It is not just a container for fragrance but becomes a refined decorative object. CULTI is recognized for sophisticated design, fragrance, and high-quality technology around the world. As it already has a big fan base within the home fragrance market in Korea, it is expected to receive a great response.
One of the representative scents, Aramara expresses the kitchen of the afternoon where a Sicilian pastry chef who studied to reveal the secrets of bitter orange, and features a scent reminiscent of premium desserts. In addition, Mareminerale captures the feelings as you stroll leisurely along the shore at dawn, and Thé reminds of the scent of soaking in the meditative warmth of a bathtub filled with Japanese green tea after a long day. Each scent is available for various products such as diffuser, room spray, sachet(scented bag), and car air freshener.
An official from Shinsegae International Cosmetics said, "We have already received a lot of interests from customers in the news about HEELEY and CULTI launching in Korea, and we will actively secure unique brands so that niche perfume will remind people of Shinsegae International."