Beauty Beat: Gwen Stefani Dives Into Fragrance
By Julie Naughton

NEW YORK — Coty Prestige took the phrase "making a splash" quite literally Monday afternoon during the unveiling of Gwen Stefani's first fragrance, called L.

Held poolside at Soho House, the event featured two Olympians doing water ballet and a charmingly modest — and frank — Stefani, clad head to toe in her L.A.M.B. line.

"This is the first time I've been away from Kingston [her 10-month-old son]," she said, surveying a room packed with beauty editors. Turning playful, she said, "I've been upstairs pumping like a mad cow! I hope they let me bring it on the plane!"

Later, during a one-on-one interview, Stefani made it clear that she's grateful for her success, both musically and otherwise. "It's sort of amazing to go from selling fragrances [as Stefani did before hitting it big in music] to having one of my own," she said. "I certainly never expected it when I was selling Borghese and Ultima II at the Broadway!"

Stefani's hit it big in more ways than one — of that, there's no doubt. Her four-year-old clothing line has surpassed $100 million in sales and, in addition to her upcoming fragrance and a best-selling handbag collection, she's hard at work designing watches and shoes. Eyewear, denim and innerwear will be added in 2008. It's possible that Stefani, a self-proclaimed makeup lover usually sporting her trademark red lips, might someday tackle the color cosmetics category — although it won't be anytime soon, she said. "I've got more than enough to do right now," she said, noting that she will begin touring early next month. She's also planning on filming an appearance for "American Idol" next week.

Stefani's fragrance, created with Firmenich, has top notes of sparkling green freshness, leafy water hyacinth, white freesia, fresh pear and violet leaves; a heart of jasmine petals, rose, lily of the valley, sweet pea and orange blossom, and a drydown of frangipani blossom, peach skin, heliotrope flower and sensual musk. "My mom had sweet peas in the yard growing up," said Stefani, who grew up in Anaheim, Calif., as one of four children. "I wanted this fragrance to be light, fresh and clean. I want people to say, 'I want to smell like that.' "

Why L? "It's the first letter in L.A.M.B., and it stands for love," said Stefani. And it will always be memorable to her for other reasons: "It's always going to remind me of this time in my life, of giving birth to my son and the [apparel] line and everything else. It's always going to be special to me."

That said, Stefani made it clear that she's not going to settle for just one scent. "I'm currently working on five fragrances," she said. "But this one is intended to be the classic."

The L collection comprises eaux de parfum in two sizes, 1.7 ounces for $55 and 3.4 ounces for $70, as well as a 6.7-oz. body lotion, $32; a 6.7-oz. shower gel, $30, and a 3-gram solid perfume compact, $42.

Stefani, in collaboration with Coty Prestige, created the bottle and the carton. The bottle's focal point is a large gold cap of interlocking Ls, which pulls off to reveal an interior of turquoise blue. Underneath the cap, the bottle is Rasta red, yellow and green with a turquoise actuator. The carton is a cheetah print with a black stripe and a stylized L. The inside of the box is striped in black and white, with the fragrance's tag line, "I want you all over me," printed inside. (The line is from Stefani's song "Crash.")

Dennis Keogh, senior vice president of U.S. marketing for Coty Prestige, noted that Nord­strom will have a six-week exclusive on the scent, beginning in July. The retailer, said to be the largest L.A.M.B. apparel account, plans to do pop-up store-in-store displays at launch. The remainder of the doors, about 2,000 department and specialty store doors, will begin selling L in September. While none of the executives would discuss sales or advertising spending, industry sources estimated that L would do about $30 million at retail in its first year on counter and estimated that about $15 million would be spent on advertising and promotion.

Both national print and TV advertising are planned for the scent, both — naturally — featuring Stefani.

The TV shoot, with video director Sophie Muller, was "hell on Earth," said Stefani cheerfully. But not because of Muller, who has shot nearly all of Stefani's videos: it was more the atmosphere, which involved being in a chilly swimming pool from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. sans stand-in. But she's happy with the result — a 30-second spot currently being assembled, which marks the first time Stefani's done a commercial. "We have enough great material for a three-minute commercial," said Stefani. She's equally pleased with the print campaign, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. "It's always been a fantasy of mine to work with Mert and Marcus, and they surpassed my expectations," said Stefani. In fact, the shoot in Ibiza produced not just one, but a handful of images of Stefani and the fragrance, which will be rotated among the fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazines and will begin running the ads in September, said Catherine Walsh, senior vice president, American Fragrances for Coty Prestige.

"I'm kind of embarrassed by how much I enjoyed creating this fragrance," said Stefani with a laugh, calling it "a slow-cooking reduction of everything I've done so far."

"It's another way to say who I am," said Stefani. "I love this one so much I'm not sure what I'm going to come up with for the next one."

 

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