PARIS – French salon chain Vog and L’Oréal-owned hair care brand Redken have unveiled a new concept in the Beaubourg district here.
In a first for Vog, whose 180 French salons offer and use a range of L’Oréal brands, the new salon on Boulevard Sebastopol exclusively uses and sells Redken products.
Designed to resemble a New York loft, Vog executives selected Redken as the star brand, since it already runs similar loft-concept salons.
The 3,110-square-foot salon in Paris boasts a DJ booth and bar, as well as a retail area where clients can buy CDs, jewelry, books and paintings. Unlike Vog’s traditional salon layout, here clients sit around one large table, facing each other so they can talk.
Vog’s artistic director Matthieu Aussel said Vog aims to attract new customers that want to have fun with their hair. Since opening for business at the end of September, he added the salon has cultivated an eclectic clientele from surrounding neighborhoods, from tourists visiting the Pompidou area to “bobos” – or hipsters – living on nearby Rue Montorgueil.
Vog plans to open a second such concept salon in Lille, France, at the end of 2006 before rolling out the franchise countrywide in 2007.
Industry sources estimate the new salon concept is expected to ring up first-year sales of 500,000 euros, or just less than $600,000 at current exchange rates. That’s almost double a traditional Vog salon’s average turnover, which comes in at 275,000 euros, or approximately $329,000.
– Ellen Groves
Firmenich Book Explores Africa
PARIS – Swiss fragrance supplier Firmenich has launched a new book, called “Afrique en Parfums” (“Africa in Perfume” in English), a tome by French photographers Veronique Durruty and Patrick Guedj that’s meant to be a journey through the African continent.
Lending a sensorial element to the experience are six fragrances created by Firmenich perfumers Alberto Morillas, Daphne Bugey and Marie Salamagne. These are meant to conjure up the cultures of Senegal, Mali, Egypt, Tanzania, Morocco and the Central African Republic.
Samples of the fragrances will be given out with the book, which went on sale in France in December. Published by Editions Hermé, the book and the six fragrances cost 65 euros, or $77.70 at current exchange rates. The book alone costs 39 euros, or $46.60.
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Armand de Villoutreys, managing director of Firmenich France and vice president of fine fragrance worldwide, said the book demonstrated Firmenich’s creativity to clients. Villoutreys added that a recent launch event for the book – which was complete with drum beats and exotic fruit juices – heralded a new openness for the once-media shy firm, which recently recruited a public relations company to raise its profile in France.
Marc Jourdan-Gassin, vice president of Firmenich’s creative marketing studio worldwide and development, Europe, for fine fragrances, added the company is increasingly working directly with artists to develop scents.
– E.G.