I can't help but view the launch of Oud 27 as a flop-sweat move on the part of Le Labo. Ever since they opened shop in 2006 with a roster of just ten fragrances, they've been focusing their attention on producing a list of City Exclusives -- fine fragrances that are offered for sale only in specific locations (for example, you can only purchase Le Labo Aldehyde 44 at the Barneys Le Labo counter in Dallas, Texas; and it's not for sale on the Le Labo website or the Barneys website).
When the global economy was chugging along and the money wheels were full of grease, this probably seemed like a good idea, manufacturing a sense of exclusivity out of thin air as Le Labo announced launch after launch that the majority of perfume fans couldn't get their hands on without a serious amount of globe trotting, telephone dialing, emailing and/or faxing (and sometimes all at once): Tuberose 40 for New York City, Poivre 23 for London, Gaiac 10 for Tokyo, Aldehyde 44 for Dallas, Vanille 44 for Paris and Musc 25 for Los Angeles.
But once the chill hit the real estate/financial markets in mid 2008 and the entire luxury goods industry subsequently crashed head-first into economic reality, the idea of keeping almost 35% of the Le Labo fragrance catalog unavailable to the general public probably doesn't seem so chic or smart anymore.
I can only imagine their last quarterly meeting. It probably went down something like this:
Exec #1: Sales are down.
Exec #2: Morale is down.
Exec #3: My stock portfolio is waaaay down.
Exec #2: You said that last quarter.
Exec #3: And it's still true!
Exec #4: Do we have any good news?
Exec #3: Alanis Morissette responded to our spokesperson offer. Her people sent us a list of terms that need clarifying. (*passes sheets of paper around the table*)
Exec #2: (*reads from paper*) "No birds, trees, wild grasses, coral reefs, bumblebees, dolphins, whales, glittery crystals, pretty flowers, faeries, nymphs, dryads, ethnic drummers or third world indigenous peoples can be harmed in the making of any product that Ms. Morrissette endorses."
Exec #3: So much for Galadriel 36.
Exec #2: I don't know (*studies paper*) -- it doesn't say anything here about elf queens.
Exec #4: Knock it off, you two. Anything else?
Exec #1: Oh! The negotiations for our stand alone boutique in Dubai completely fell apart. The project is a no-go.
Exec #4: How is that good news?
Exec #1: Trust me, blowing a bunch of cash on a new boutique is so not in our best interests right now.
Exec #4: You have a point.
Exec #3: So where does that leave the Oud project we were working on? You know, the Dubai City Exclusive that was supposed to accompany the grand opening of the boutique?
Exec #4: Scratch it. Our City Exclusives cost us more money to develop and produce than they bring in. Whose lame-brain idea was this whole City Exclusive thing anyway?
Execs #1, #2, #3: Gerald's!
Exec #4: Fire him.
Exec #1: You fired him yesterday.
Exec #4: Well, fire him again! We have only sixteen fragrances, people, and a full six of them are completely unavailable for the majority of perfume consumers to purchase. Does that make sense to any of you?
Exec #3: Gerald convinced us all that producing City Exclusives would lend our brand a sense of unattainability, making us intensely and immediately desirable to the aspiring luxury consumer.
Exec #2: "You want what you cannot have" -- that kind of thing.
Exec #4: Our accountants don't view product unattainability as intensely or immediately desirable.
Exec #2: Touché.
Exec #1: Well, we could take the Oud project and launch it as a wide release instead of a City Exclusive . . . ?
(*general pause*)
Exec #3: I don't know. Oud is kind of a hard sell in even the best of times.
Exec #1: But we have close to zero customers in the Middle East where oud is very popular, so obviously we have a lot more wall space to throw bottles at.
Exec #2: But don't Montale and M. Micallef have the oud corner already papered over into oblivion?
Exec #1: I think you're all forgetting that we haven't had a new wide release since we first opened in 2006.
Exec #4: That's three years! Who's responsible for that?
Exec #1, #2, #3: Gerald!!!
Exec #4: (*bleepity bleep bleep bleep*)
Exec #2: Then we're about due for a new wide launch, I agree. I mean, we're not going to start pulling in more revenue unless we offer products that consumers can actually buy, right?
Exec #4: Right.
Exec #3: Okay, but will consumers spring for an oud in any significant amount? Most people don't even know what oud is.
Exec #4: Someone will buy it, and that's better than the bottom line hemorrhage we're experiencing now, so make it happen. Any last questions?
Exec #3: Yeah -- can I have Gerald's office?
Listed fragrance notes for Le Labo Oud 27 are: cedar, incense, patchouli, saffron and gaiac wood. Considering that the number "27" in the name stands for how many actual ingredients make up the fragrance's formula, there's a lot that's unaccounted for in the notes list.
The selection of oud is also an odd choice for a general release, especially considering the commercial viability of a number of the present City Exclusive fragrances -- Poivre 23 and Musc 25 are especially good, and I would purchase a bottle of each instantly . . . if I could get my hands on either. But this sour-ish Oud 27? It takes literally hours on the skin before it can be bothered to turn into something more pleasant than a mix of turpentine and pickle juice.
Admittedly, once the turn happens, Oud 27 transforms into a fairly decent class of dry wood scent (the cedar is excellent, though not really any better than Tauer Perfumes L'Air du Desert Marocain), yet there are already hundreds of other dry wood scents available on the market -- and they don't start off smelling so foul.
I like the Le Labo line for the most part, but Tom Ford couldn't even get oud off the ground when he had the backing of YSL and the buzz of his uber-sexy Gucci years behind him, so I don't see Oud 27 as one of their brightest ideas.
Le Labo would have done themselves (and their customers) a much bigger favor by simply ditching the City Exclusive concept and making their entire catalog available for wide release. That would have created more hype, sales and chatter than Oud 27 will ever muster.
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