Bergdorf Goodman’s coveted fragrance selection is gaining a new, Taiwan-inspired entrant.
Launching on Valentine’s Day for $295 for a 75-ml. bottle, Formosa (named after the Portuguese word for “beautiful island”) is the first fragrance by Shining Sung, whose family established and owns Taiwan’s Chi Mei Museum.
Formulated by Firmenich master perfumer Honorine Blanc with ingredients Indigenous to Taiwan including plum blossom, white peony, black currant, sweet mandarin, labdanum, patchouli and more, Sung describes Formosa as something of a love letter to her home country. Industry sources estimate the fragrance could do more than $1 million in retail sales during its first year on the market.
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“Taiwan is such a unique country; besides my love for Taiwan itself, the timing of the launch is more meaningful considering the precarious situation the country is in,” said Sung, referring to heightened tension in China-Taiwan relations regarding the island’s governance.
Sung enlisted the help of her longtime friend Marc Rosen, who is the fragrance packaging design veteran behind some of the most iconic flacons of recent decades, including those of Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door and Karl Lagerfeld’s KL by Karl Lagerfeld, to extend her homage beyond Formosa’s notes and into its bottle design, as well.
“Shining called me one day and said, ‘What if we do a fragrance for Taiwan?,” recalled Rosen, who shortly thereafter embarked upon research to determine which of the island’s most notable characteristics he could encompass in the packaging. “Taiwan is a country most of us don’t know about in terms of what it looks like, but the island is truly beautiful — the topography is so diverse, and it is a leading exporter of jade.”
And thus, the bottle’s carved jade cap was born with the help of packaging and product design company, Mna|bax, sealing the bottle as one of Rosen’s favorite designs of his career, he said.
Formosa will be available exclusively at Bergdorf’s in the U.S. during its first six months on the market, and will be available in one of nine Fenwick locations in London (on Bond Street) beginning March 19, with the aim to expand to eventually enter the other eight. The fragrance is also available for purchase at Formosafragrance.com.
“Bergdorf’s is such a great strategic partner for us because they don’t just offer niche products like Formosa — they truly stand behind them, unlike some other large department stores,” Rosen said.
Come April, Sung, who resides in New York City, will commence buyer visits in Taiwan for Formosa, and is also eyeing Middle Eastern markets, namely the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where she thinks Formosa (which is the first of many fragrances she hopes to introduce under the Formosa brand name) would thrive.