Designer Parfums diversifies its brand stable

Kristel Milet

5 October 2015

Thanks to the various purchases it concluded over the past few years, the Designer Parfums group is now composed of a stable combining high perfumery brands, like Jean Patou, and low-end perfume licences. With Dilesh Mehta as its Director, the British group, which is associated with American distributor Lux Brand in the United States, is gradually imposing itself on all markets, and has just purchased Fred Fekkai, the hair care brand, to open itself even further to the cosmetics sector.

At the end of the 90s, the Mehta family at the head of the Shaleen group decided to shift from perfumery trading to buying brands. They created Designers Parfums in 2002, after having bought the Worth Paris brand. Then came Jean-Louis Scherrer, German fine leather brand Étienne Aigner, which they purchased from Puig, Ghost, the English fragrance brand for young girls, and of course, in 2011, Jean Patou, the iconic French luxury brand that was put on hold for a decade by Procter & Gamble: Designer Parfums purchased the whole brand (perfumery and couture) and managed to revive its perfume department with the famous Joy, 1000 Sublime, and the new editions of the Heritage Collection.

Meanwhile, the group completed its stable of licensed selective brands with Porsche Design, which it acquired from Clarins, or Naomi Campbell Perfumes.

As for distribution, Designer Parfums associated with local group Lux Brand on the North American market. Together, they chose to purchase brands that were well-established on the territory. That is how Ari by Ariana Grande perfumes and professional hair care brand Fred Fekkai got caught in the group’s net. But the first step in the care sector was taken with the purchase of DDF dermatological products.

“We are proud to add these leading beauty brands to our portfolio of French heritage brands,” Dilesh Mehta explains.

Boosted by the successful rebirth of the Patou perfume house, the Designer Parfums group managed to build itself a varied catalogue in only a few years, and is now strategically positioned on the market. “We hope to diversify our portfolio and be present on all market segments of the beauty industry: middle, prestige, and niche markets,” the manager concludes. We will keep an eye on their progress as well as on the possible relaunching of the Couture department of Maison Jean Patou.