MILAN — Salvatore Ferragamo SpA, parent company of the Salvatore Ferragamo Group, and Inter Parfums Inc. have signed a worldwide licensing agreement for the production and distribution of Ferragamo branded perfumes.
According to a statement released on Wednesday, the agreement will be effective from October and will last for an initial term of 10 years.
The deal marks a turning point for Ferragamo’s beauty business as its fragrance division had been managed in-house for the last two decades.
To ensure the continuity of the Made in Italy production and the highest level of synergies with the fashion house, Inter Parfums will operate through a wholly owned company based in Florence.
“Inter Parfums’ great competence and recognized professionalism make it the ideal partner to continue to develop the solid values of our brand as well as to maintain the ‘Italian-ness’ of the production,” said Leonardo Ferragamo, chairman of the Salvatore Ferragamo company, adding that the partner’s “qualified commercial strength will also ensure a new boost to the business of our fragrances, which will be distributed through a carefully selected sales network.”
Inter Parfums Inc. chairman and chief executive officer Jean Madar defined the label as “one of the most iconic and well-known brands in the luxury segment” and underscored that the addition to the company’s portfolio “represents a great opportunity to further develop our business in the fashion and luxury segment.”
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Inter Parfums’ fragrance licenses include Boucheron, Coach, Jimmy Choo, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade, Moncler, Montblanc, Paul Smith, Repetto, S.T. Dupont and Van Cleef & Arpels. The group also owns Lanvin fragrances and the Rochas brand.
As reported, Salvatore Ferragamo and Inter Parfums said they were in exclusive negotiations for the license last month.
Following the announcement, a group of Salvatore Ferragamo employees expressed opposition to the deal in a one-hour sit-in in front of the company’s Osmannoro plant, outside Florence. At the time, trade unions underscored that the possible operation would have implicated that “the rights and jobs of 40 workers are at risk” and asked the company to interrupt negotiations.
In response, the fashion house stressed that the deal was “aimed at ensuring a further boost to the perfume business and the continuity of the Made in Italy production” and that it was “ready to [take action] to offer the best possible solutions for workers.”
The licensing deal with Inter Parfums isn’t the first in the history for the Ferragamo fragrance business.
In 1994, the brand signed an agreement for the development and manufacturing of its first fragrance with Eurocos Cosmetics, a Germany-based division of Procter & Gamble.
After discontinuing the deal with nothing having been produced, in March 1997 Ferragamo and Bulgari formed a joint venture — each taking a 50 percent stake — called Ferragamo Parfums SA. At the time, Bulgari was given management responsibility under a service contract.
After a four-year-long partnership, the two parties amicably dissolved the joint-venture contract, with Ferragamo acquiring from Bulgari its 50 percent stake for an undisclosed sum. The Ferragamo Parfums division was then established in 2001 to control the entire fragrance business in-house, from the development of the scent to the distribution.
In the first quarter of 2021, sales of Salvatore Ferragamo fragrances were up 5.3 percent to 10.5 million euros. Overall, in the three months ended March 31, the company’s revenues rose 10.3 percent to 244.6 million euros compared with 222 million euros in the same period last year.
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