Perfume clubs: Forget virtual, fragrance brands take it IRL

The Coty Fragrance Club brings together fragrance experts, educators, creators and community leaders with the group’s fragrance teams. Through discussions, workshops, immersive experiences and co-creation opportunities, the initiative aims to foster an ongoing dialogue on consumer behavior, cultural trends, creative storytelling and fragrance innovation.

Launched in Paris, the Club brings together members from Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States and China for an immersive exploration of fragrance creation. Participants met perfumers Nathalie Lorson, Amandine Clerc-Marie, Meabh McCurtin, Julie Massé, Fabrice Pellegrin and Delphine Lebeau to gain insights into the creative processes behind modern perfumery.

“Today, new communities and voices are changing how people discover, understand and experience scent,” said Jean Holtzmann, Chief Brands Officer at Coty Prestige. The club, he explained, is intended to bring these perspectives together with the group’s fragrance expertise in a continuous dialogue about the category’s future.

Coty intends to develop the club into an ongoing global community, with its teams meeting members regularly.

The move follows a similar initiative by Brazilian beauty brand O Boticário, which launched its own perfume club with a first gathering in Grasse, France, this year.

Inspired by wine and gastronomy clubs, O Boticário’s Clube da Perfumaria aims to bring consumers closer to the creative process. Its first gathering, featuring experts from fragrance house IFF, explored the evolution of floral fragrances, the growing role of natural ingredients, contemporary reinterpretations of classic raw materials and emerging industry trends.

For Grupo Boticário’s Executive Director of Research and Development, Gustavo Dieamant, the format offers an opportunity to identify emerging trends and exchange ideas with specialists on the future of fragrance creation.

From online communities to real-world connections

The rise of brand-led fragrance clubs follows the growth of grassroots perfume communities on North American college campuses and among niche fragrance enthusiasts in China, driven in part by younger generations’ appetite for more participatory experiences and authentic social connections. It brings the social-media-driven perfume maxxing trend into the real world.

In a July 2026 report, The Hustle described the emergence of fragrance clubs as a social phenomenon in the U.S., with formats ranging from informal blind-sniffing meetups and scent swaps to organized tours and workshops. These gatherings offer enthusiasts a way to connect around a shared interest, without necessarily requiring specialist knowledge. Unlike traditional expert-led sessions, many fragrance clubs encourage participants to focus on their personal reactions to a scent, and the memories and emotions it evokes, rather than their ability to identify individual ingredients.

China is also seeing the development of experiential clubs offering new ways to experience fragrance. As reported by Jing Daily, cocktail and tea gatherings combine socializing with scent discovery and swapping. These events also give niche brands an opportunity to connect with consumers beyond traditional retail settings.

Although their formats differ, these initiatives share a common ambition: to turn fragrance consumers into active participants in the category’s culture. They also reflect a broader shift towards experience-led consumption, in which the appeal lies not only in the product itself but also in the people, stories and activities surrounding it.

For established groups such as Coty and O Boticário, clubs provide a structured way to build relationships with highly involved consumers, exchange knowledge with enthusiasts and influential voices, for a closer understanding of emerging expectations and preferences.