Clarins aligns Thierry Mugler fragrance brand with fashion a

Clarins has engineered a low key relaunch of its Thierry Mugler operation, linking perfumes with its ready-to-wear fashion arm. Joel Palix, president of the Clarins Fragrance Group, has said he had convinced shareholders of the need for a relaunch to further the groups expansion in international markets. Palix added that in the emerging markets a perfume product on its own did not say anything.

Under the creative direction of Nicola Formichetti, Mugler collections have been sold in selected fashion outlets including Barneys in New York. A fresh phase will be started in February this year with the launch of top end handbags starting at around €1000. Clarins says it is the success of the Mugler perfumes - sales continue to increase - which has enabled the fashion arm to be relaunched. Perfumes make up one of the main operations of the group, accounting for 40% of total sales or over €400m. Sales of Thierry Mugler perfumes posted a 13% rise in 2012.

Additionally, the fashion house has embarked on a new strategy in fragrance packaging. From April this year its Angel brand bottles of 25ml will be sold empty so that customers can fill them themselves from over 2000 sources that will be available in outlets throughout France. The 25ml bottle is the best-seller in the range.

Sandrine Groslier, director general for Clarins perfumes in France, said the new offer would help maintain its position in the market. Initially, the empty bottle would be offered to facilitate purchase of the source product. Groslier added that it was thought to be more advantageous to offer the empty bottle for filling than to simply offer the one rechargeable product. The strategy is to switch to this policy for all the Mugler products from 2014.