IT may be a perfectly sweet-smelling fragrance, but Yves Saint Laurent's 'Champagne' has created a real stink among the people whose job it is to protect the reputation of the chic and bubbly beverage after which it is named.
The Comite Interprofessional du Vin et Champagne (CIVC) is at loggerheads with YSL over the unauthorised use of the name Champagne, claiming the word has been 'debased' by the luxury fashion house. Yves Saint Laurent, on the other hand, continues to pour vast sums of money into the advertising and marketing campaign, hoping to entice consumers into parting with their cash in a fragrance-saturated, recession-hit market.
The English version of the press release, would seem to rub salt into the wound: 'Champagne! Boldness, a name that explodes, fuses, bursts like sudden laughter, banishes ennui.' At the centre of the battle is a seemingly innocuous cork-shaped bottle containing a less than distinctive fragrance that may, if the CIVC wins, become a collector's item as it is likely it will have to be pulled off the market immediately. About 100 million French francs (HK$134 million) has already been spent on the launch of the new line and sales have been 'quite good', according to industry insiders.
'I think it's because it's new and there are such huge ad campaigns and the risks of the perfume being pulled off the market are quite real,' said the marketing director of a rival French perfume house. 'People seem to be curious about what the perfume is like.' It is now available all over France at prices running up to 1,300 francs for a bottle of concentrated perfume. The Hong Kong launch of Champagne is scheduled for January, followed by the rest of Asia.
'Overseas launchings will continue as planned,' said a spokeswoman for Yves Saint Laurent in Paris. Asked for the company's predictions about the outcome of the lawsuit, she said: 'We have to wait and see. At this moment, we're not saying anything.' But the director of CIVC, Andre Enders, is happy to talk about his disappointment in Yves Saint Laurent, which ignored the association's early recommendations.
Saint Laurent and his partner and company president Pierre Berge received a stern warning a year ago to abandon the Champagne project, but proceeded to launch the fragrance last month. CIVC gave its lawyers notice to bring the suit on Yves Saint Laurent almost immediately. A judgment is expected soon.
'We have a very simple way of looking at it,' Mr Enders said. 'Champagne is known the world over as a festive beverage for celebration and a symbol of success. This good will has been created progressively over two centuries by the champagne industry in France.
