KUWAIT: The international luxury fragrance house Amouage yesterday opened its first exclusive shop in The Avenues Mall in Kuwait making a strategic push into the growing boutique market. With the opening of this 15th international mono-brand shop in Grand Avenue, the niche luxury house Amouage seeks to expand its footprint in the Gulf and express the brand's DNA in its purest form.
"We are delighted to have our own store here, because Kuwait's appetite and demand for high-end goods is always on the rise. And we could not have found a better location than The Avenues with brand adjacencies that demonstrate the same level of luxury as Amouage," said David Crickmore, Amouage's Chief Executive Officer, marking the official inauguration of the store.
Crickmore said Kuwait's largest mall has redefined the luxury shopping experience in the country. "We are confident that our shop is perfectly located to reach our customers and offer them Amouage's wonderful and expanding repertoire of fine fragrances and complementary bath and body, home, travel accessories and leather goods collection," he said.
Evolution
Amouage was founded 30 years ago in Oman adhering to the wonderful tradition and heritage of perfumery. But over the years, it has evolved itself into an international luxury fragrance brand creating finely blended perfumes with the highest quality of rare and luxurious ingredients sourced from around the world, bringing artistry to perfumery.
Amouage's fine fragrance portfolio comprises Gold, Dia, Ciel, Reflection, Silver, Ubar, Jubilation, Lyric, Epic, Memoir, Honour, Interlude, Beloved and the final creation that expresses the end of the first cycle of the Amouage narrative: Fate. The House has also introduced a new stratum of craftsmanship in its Library Collection with seven Opus fragrances.
Designed under the guidance of Creative Director, Christopher Chong, the new shop introduces Amouage's fourth generation design. Fractured mirrored glass cabinets and elegant, clean-cut ivory style furnishings embody Amouage's philosophy of contemporary artistry. The house's signature jacquard is exquisitely carved in corian fixtures as an expressive representation of the brand's timeless sophistication while burgundy wall panels and hand-painted wallpaper add a sense of warmth and refined elegance.
Expansion
"We still remember our roots. But today, we are an international luxury brand extending our message to a broader international audience. We sell to international consumers and therefore we have to stand up to the taste of global consumers," Crickmore told Kuwait Times on the sidelines of the event.
"One of the key things in our expansion strategy is to have a high quality product and other complementary products around it," he said. The House of Amouage has now extended its product categories to include a bath and body collection comprising complementary soaps, hand-creams, shower gels, body creams and body lotions, in addition to a home collection of candles and parfums d'ambience, a range of travel accessories and exclusive leather goods handcrafted in Italy, featuring the finest top-grade leather and exotic skins.
"So it is not just the fragrance. We are making a complete lifestyle story with the brand. And it is gradually becoming a boutique brand," he pointed out. Amouage's international retail footprint now encompasses four shops in Muscat, five shops in the UAE, two in Bahrain, one shop in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait respectively, in addition to shops in Kuala Lumpur and London. Another three standalone shops are set to open early next year in Rome, Nation Towers Mall Abu Dhabi and also in Lagoona Mall in Doha. Amouage has also significantly expanded its distribution network in more than 60 countries in the world's most premier stores including Bloomingdales and Harvey Nichols in Dubai Harrods, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges in London, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, Tangs and Escentials in Singapore, David Jones in Australia, KadeWe in Berlin, Gumm and Tsum in Moscow, Bon Genie in Geneva and Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.
"The Kuwait shop is very important for us. It can even rival our shop in Dubai Mall. We want to see our presence prosper in Kuwait as we see the potential to open two more Amouage shops here," said Crickmore. In terms of business, the Gulf region is the most mature market for Amouage. "The Gulf is a very stable and important market for us," he said.
But, according to Crickmore, real growth is however seen in Europe, the United States and the Far East. Some of the European markets like Russia, Italy Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the UK and France are showing significant growth. Amouage has recently opened its shop in South America as well, broadening its footprint as a true international brand. In Asian markets, the brand has established itself in Indonesia, Malaysia Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. "The growth trajectory is higher in Europe because we started from a low base. In terms of real numbers, around 45 percent of our total business is from Europe and America and about 20 percent is from the Far East," he said.
Trend-setter
According to Crickmore, there is a trend in fragrances today. "You can see a lot of commonality in fragrances. Most of the fragrances are very much the same. But we don't do that. We create original blends to give perfumes innovative and unique fragrances by taking ideas from music, literature or films. There is a uniqueness about our fragrances. They have their own voices and they sing a different song," Crickmore outlined the brand's philosophy. We don't see ourselves as trend-setters, but definitely we are being looked up as a very serious player in fragrance industry today," he concluded.
© Kuwait Times 2013
