Oscar de la Renta reacquires scent license
According to WWD, New York fashion designer Oscar de la Renta has brought his fragrance license inhouse following an 18-month legal dispute with YSL Beaute, now owned by L’Oreal and Elizabeth Arden, its distributor in America. The publication reported that YSL will no longer manufacture or distribute Oscar de la Renta fragrances and other beauty-related products effective immediately.
Alex Bolen, CEO of the fashion company told WWD, “We reached an agreement to terminate our license agreement with L’Oreal. We are actively working on a partnership to take advantage of the beauty category more broadly.” The dispute stemmed from Elizabeth’s reputed decision to sell 4 ml fragrance samples to Wal-Mart and other mass retailers without permission. Apparently, these samples were never meant for commercial sale. The issue went to arbitration and a deal was worked out the end of December.
Oscar fragrances will remain in Canadian stores while the company looks for a new fragrance partner. The original scent, Oscar, continues to be a best seller in Canada and Oscar is beloved by fragrance advisors across the country. He made regular visits to key stores for many years to say thank you to staff for supporting his fragrance portfolio.
by Dave Lackie
National Post Sniff Tests
Sniff Test, the National Post's unbiased, totally honest reviews of the latest perfumes, appears weekly on The Ampersand, the newspaper's Pop Culture blog.
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