According to an article by WWD, The Estée Lauder Companies will soon be closing its Aramis & Designer Fragrances division.
Brands that fall under this division include Aramis, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, Donna Karan and Ermenegildo Zegna. Aramis will move into another division within the company, but the other licenses will end between now and 2023.
Michael Kors is set to enter into a new agreement with EuroItalia, which also owns the license for Capri Holdings brand, Versace. Inter Parfums Inc has signed a licensing agreement for Donna Karan and DKNY, starting July 1.
The Estée Lauder Companies released a statement saying that it “is committed to ensuring that it is focused on investing its resources into the most strategic long-term growth opportunities and value creation globally.”
According to the statement, “after careful and thorough consideration, ELC and the four fashion houses have mutually decided to not renew the licensing agreements when they expire," which will occur by June 2023.
“Fragrance is a winning category for our company and continues to be a key long-term area of focus. The transfer of these four licenses will enable us to fully dedicate our attention and resources to our powerful and winning luxury and prestige fragrance portfolio.”
Following the wind down, Lauder will still own several luxury fragrance lines, including Tom Ford Beauty, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums de Frederic Malle, Jo Malone London Aerin and Kilian Paris. The Estée Lauder and Clinique brands also have fragrance lines.
“We are proud of the long-term relationships we have built with our four designer fragrance licenses and deeply grateful to our employees, whose passion and commitment helped us build a successful designer fragrance division,” the statement concluded. “We will work closely with our fashion house partners to ensure the best and most seamless transitions possible to support their bright futures.”
