Mae West Aroma

The sweet smell of success surrounded MAE WEST, especially after her first two back-to-back blockbusters for Paramount Pictures in the early 1930s.
Designers pursued the actress, hoping to tag along in any way that would impact on their bank accounts. An article in The Washington Times tracked the trend of a celebrity-inspired fragrance to her: "The romance between celebrities and perfumes can be traced to the 1930s, when a bottle of Shocking perfume was modeled after actress Mae West." Read a bit more below.
• • • Sweet smell of success sparks star scents • • •
By Jen Haberkorn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 2, 2006
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• • The scent of celebrities will be all over shopping malls this holiday season.
• • Sarah Jessica Parker, Derek Jeter, and Hilary Duff are just some of the celebrities following the smell of money and releasing fragrances for the holidays, a season when about one-third of perfume sales are made.
• • Celebrity-endorsed fragrances have stormed the perfume industry, driving the industry's first major sales increase since 2001 and making up a growing portion of the top-selling fragrances.
• • Perfume sales at department stores rose 3 percent to $2.94 billion last year, after years of hovering between $2.8 billion and $2.9 billion, according to NPD Group Inc., a market research company in Port Washington, NY. Sales from celebrity fragrances have grown 80 percent to $148.5 million from 2003 to 2005, according to NPD.
• • "They've been terrific. They've brought a whole new customer to an industry that for the last five years has been flat and slow," said Rochelle R. Bloom, president of the Fragrance Foundation, a New York trade group.
• • Britney Spears' wildly successful fragrances - - Curious,which became a top seller in department stores during the 2004 Christmas season, Fantasy, and Curious In Control - - are credited with introducing perfumes to tweens and teens. Elizabeth Arden Inc. is hoping to re-create that success with former Disney Channel star Miss Duff's new scent, With Love.
• • The romance between celebrities and perfumes can be traced to the 1930s, when a bottle of Shocking perfume was modeled after actress Mae West. Elizabeth Taylor made endorsing perfumes glamorous with the success of White Diamonds in 1991.
• • But celebrities started following the scent after Jennifer Lopez's Glow was released (late 2002) and raked in a reported $40 million during its first six months on shelves.
• • Last year, celebrity fragrances made up a quarter of the top 100 selling brands, up from 10 percent in 2003, according to NPD Group.
• • "[Celebrity fragrances] have been very important to the growth we've seen in women's fragrances and we're seeing it to a degree in men's," said Leigh Anne Rowinski, a beauty trend analyst at Information Resources Inc. in Chicago. . . .
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• • Source: THE WASHINGTON TIMES
• • Printed: November 2, 2006
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Mae West
• • Photo: Mae West • • Marcel Rochas • • in the 1930s • •
NYC
Mae West.