The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. has signed a licensing deal with Italian fashion house Missoni to create and market new fragrances.
Estée Lauder will market the products through its Aramis and Designer Fragrances division. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Our relationship with Missoni represents important advances for several of our key business objectives, including the ongoing development of our European fragrance strategy and the expansion of our partnerships with leading fashion designers, said Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, group president at Estée Lauder, in a statement. “Missoni is a powerful fashion brand with worldwide recognition and surging momentum. It has a dynamic, stylish image that appeals globally to a sophisticated, trend-conscious customer.”
Missoni, known for its Italian knitwear, is based in Milan.
Last month, Estée Lauder signed former Gucci fashion designer Tom Ford to launch a new cosmetics line and fragrance products under Ford’s name. The deal marked the first time the cosmetics company has partnered with an outside fashion designer.
The two phase deal includes a Tom Ford for Estée Lauder line to be sold at Estée Lauder counters. A limited range of products will be introduced in time for the holiday season. By spring 2006 a more extensive collection for broader distribution will debut. During the second phase, Ford will create a Tom Ford beauty brand to include fragrance and other related products to launch in the fall of 2006. Ford joined Gucci in 1990 as womenswear designer and in 1994 was named creative director.
The Estée Lauder brand generates about $3.5 billion in global retail sales, one of the slowest growers in the Lauder group, according to news reports.
Estée Lauder brands include Estée Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Prescriptives, Origins, M.A.C, Bobbi Brown, Tommy Hilfiger and others.
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