Roos & Roos keeps growing and unveils new fragrance

Premium Beauty News - Why change the brand name? And why Roos & Roos?

Chantal Roos - We had chosen the name of Dear Rose as a way to keep telling new stories, because to us, “Rose” both refers to a first name and a mythical flower. The problem was, customers thought all our fragrances were based on rose, when they were not. It could be confusing and disappointing, so we decided to review our story. And what regularly stood out from customer insights was that our brand was marked by femininity. Two women, mother and daughter, with both complicity and differences, a complementary vision with a contemporary touch – that is not so common on the market. And it is really our point of difference. So, the brand became Roos & Roos.

Premium Beauty News - So, what is Roos & Roos today?

Chantal Roos - Roos & Roos is composed of the original range of five 100 ml Eaux de parfum for which we have just launched the 50 ml size. There is also the Exclusifs range – still created with perfumer-creator Fabrice Pellegrin, of Firmenich –, a line of six fragrances which goes even farther in our search of raw materials and sophisticated packaging designed by artists. Also, we have just launched two new Oud-based perfumes to meet demand from the Middle East, a market on which the brand is already successful. Lastly, the new fragrance named Pale Blue Eyes, as a reference to the mythical hit by The Velvet Underground, was created by Dominique Ropion and will be launched in late September. It is both radiant and sensual.

Premium Beauty News - What is the brand’s main strength?

Chantal Roos - We have been working with a perfumer-creator as part of our constant search for new raw materials, which we systematically combine with others, and for new ideas. For example, we won a Fifi Award for the Mentha Religiosa fragrance, a most surprising, innovative association of peppermint and patchouli & incense as base notes.

Our strength also lies in how we work, in what both of us bring to the other, depending on her experiences. Alexandra is very creative, she is an artist. For example, she is the one who found the names of our fragrances, often in relation to her musical world. She can move me out of my comfort zone, out of my story. It is a mother-daughter duo; it is not always that easy. She had to find her own place, and I had to learn to say “you’re right, I got it wrong”.

Premium Beauty News - Beyond products, what are your next developments, export-wise?

Chantal Roos - We launched a fundraising campaign a year ago, which helped us increase our workforce and recruit a sales manager to get global. So, we have just entered several markets in the Middle East, in Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. We are also present in Europe through distributors in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the UK…We have ongoing projects in the US and we are expanding in Russia, where we had already partly settled via the L’Etoile niche brand points of sale. And of course, our fragrances are available in France, at the Bon Marché department store, as well as in a beautiful selection of niche perfume stores.

The other big investment is aimed to gain fame, which will depend on the work done by our people locally, in every country, with the press, in social media, etc. In some countries, our distributors have their own press attachés. In the others, we recruited them. The Web is also an issue on which we have been working – our website has already much evolved.

Premium Beauty News - Given your experience, how do you view conventional perfumery compared to niche perfumery, which you chose with Roos & Roos?

Chantal Roos - At the time of my first launches with Yves Saint Laurent, Opium or Paris, for example, there were only few launches and distribution only involved perfume retailers and a few department stores. Then, distribution changed a lot, as chains like Sephora and Marionnaud emerged, and brands created an increasing number of new fragrances. We can almost talk about overabundance, perfumes tended to smell like one another, and as soon as the 2000s, women turned to what was soon called niche perfumery. Now, the risk is that too many niche brands may emerge, but as usual, consumers are those who choose, especially given the growing influence of websites.