Elements

View the original article and photos at Elsevier Business Intelligence.

Executive Summary
Unlike other trade shows where niche brands may be overshadowed by their larger peers, Elements celebrates the small guys. Its most recent installment in January 2012 attracted 110 brands and buyers from Barneys New York, Sephora, QVC and Saks Fifth Avenue, among other retailers, its founders say.

By Suzanne Blecher
“The Rose Sheet” Jul. 9, 2012, Vol. 33, No. 28

Celebrating its fourth installation Aug. 20-21 in New York, Elements Showcase has become a mecca for emerging designers to showcase their products, the event’s founders suggested in a June 11 interview.

Unlike other trade shows where niche brands may be overshadowed by their larger peers, Elements celebrates the small guys, and provides these artisan brands with real estate befitting of their crafts – sleek, white counters lit by natural sunshine in a contemporary loft space.

“A beautiful setting is just more appropriate,” said Elements cofounder Frederick Bouchardy.

Thus far the upscale boutique approach is working, with the show’s most recent installment in January 2012 attracting 110 brands and 2700 attendees. Of those in attendance, 54% were buyers from retailers such as Barneys New York, Sephora USA Inc., Henri Bendel, QVC, Anthropologie, Fred Segal, Lord & Taylor, Fred Segal and Saks Fifth Avenue.

The first Elements show in January 2011 featured 40 brands and 650 attendees, 40% of which were buyers.

The buyer presence is a significant draw for small brands in need of a brick-and-mortar home. That need has become more dire with retailers increasingly developing their own in-house brands.

Sephora, the “original beauty incubator of indie brands,” is adopting that strategy more and more, Jani Friedman, former managing director for beauty and personal care at Demeter Group, noted in a presentation at HBA Global Expo in June (“Changing Beauty Retail Environment Leaves Indie Brands “Homeless”” — “The Rose Sheet,” Jul. 2, 2012).

For French Restauranteur and Perfumer Gerard Ghislain, Elements has opened the door to “tons of new distribution in the States through niche fashion stores and lifestyle stores” for his brandHistoires de Parfums, according to Bouchardy.

Known for his avant-garde creations including petroleum- and mineral-inspired scents, the perfumer will launch a new brand at Elements in August.

MCMC Fragrances has also expanded its retail footprint through participation in Elements Showcase, Bouchardy said. The brand is now available in Japan after impressing buyers at the show.

MCMC’s Stories Collection is inspired by Anne McClain’s personal life experience. Hunter ($95 for a 40-mL eau de parfum), a bouquet of bourbon, vanilla, tobacco and fir blossom notes, was inspired by a childhood friend (“Indie Scents May Pose Promising Acquisitions” — “The Rose Sheet,” Feb. 6, 2012).

According to the Elements founders, representatives from U.K.-based Fenwick, Mecca Cosmetica in Australia and France’s Le Bon Marche have visited the show, among other international guests.

Elements “is really becoming a global phenomenon,” said Elements cofounder Ulrich Lang in the June interview. Lang, along with Bouchardy and Jeff Lawson, launched the show to help friends in the indie world get noticed.

In the beginning, “it was very much about our network,” said Bouchardy. But after the first show, “it was pretty quickly proven that there was a real need for this,” he explained.

While Lawson has roots in the trade show world as co-founder of Art Asia International Contemporary Art Fair, Bouchardy and Lawson are both indie brand owners.

Bouchardy owns Joya, a candle and fine fragrance collection. The candles, which sell for about $50, are composed of tropical palm oil wax that bears a “unique crystalline texture” that is a natural result of the temperature at which it is poured, according to a product description. Bouchardy has collaborated with Opening Ceremony, Rodarte and fine men’s clothing store The Brooklyn Circus on candle creations.

Ulrich Lang New York Fragrances’product offering includes Nightscape ($110/100-mL), a modern take on patchouli with topnotes of bergamot, lime, tangerine, sage, mint and basil and a heart of violet, jasmine, geranium leaves, sesame and honey. The base is leather and moss “interwoven with sheer ambers, precious woods and a hint of guava,” a product description says.

Lang sells his scents in Barneys New York, Aedes de Venustas, Scent Bar and Liberty in London. During a recent Elements show, he was surprised to run into a buyer from London-based Fortnum & Mason, which carried his line in the past. The two got to “reconnect” and “reignite a dialogue,” Lang said.

Because many small brands lack the financial resources to expand internationally, Elements’ founders plan to add a “global component” to their shows.

“There’s a whole new opportunity right there,” Lang said.

Within the next year, new Elements editions will be announced, including potentially a Middle East show, as the region is a hotbed for high-priced, beautifully-packaged exclusive scents, according to Lang.

Distributors there “really know how to merchandise smaller brands and give them their own universe,” he explained. And the customer there tends to be a heavy user, buying “three or six pieces at a time because they like to walk in a cloud of fragrance.”

For them, “fragrance is part of their lifestyle,” concluded Lang.