MODELING A SUPER SCENT
Byline: Soren Larson JANUARY 16, 1998, 12:00AM
NEW YORK — At long last, it’s here: the first supermodel scent.
Cindy doesn’t have one, Naomi doesn’t have one, Iman is working on one, but now Valeria is doing it.
Valeria Mazza, a fashion mannequin who is a household name in Italy, Spain and her native Argentina, has a new self-titled fragrance that will arrive in stores starting next month.
Valeria and her fragrance distributor, San Telmo, are counting on what they describe as her massive popularity in her home territory and South American women’s love of fragrances to make the new brand a player in the prestige beauty business.
“After seven years working as a model, I want to start working on other things,” Valeria said. She noted that in her profession, she’s getting on in years: “I’m 25 — I’m not that young anymore.”
The fragrance, the first product to bear Valeria’s name, will be introduced in several major Latin American markets in mid-to-late February and will move on to the U.S. sometime in late spring, according to Fred Weinert, president of the Barrington, Ill.-based San Telmo.
“Most of the South American distribution is in upscale perfumeries,” said Weinert, adding that Valeria will be in about 100 doors each in Argentina and Brazil.
Valeria chose to work with San Telmo, she said, because of Weinert’s knowledge of the South American market; last year the firm created a scent called VBA for Argentine retailer Vitamina.
Weinert and his Argentine wife, Silvia Del Valle Ferreyra, own H20 stores in Buenos Aires and distribute several American brands in Argentina, including Michael Jordan Cologne.
For her part, Valeria is perhaps best known in the U.S. for her splashy work for Guess Jeans. She has also been on the covers of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue and fashion magazines around the globe and is the host of MTV’s Latin House of Style.
The model has also worked for companies that will soon be competitors — among them Versace Profumi and L’Oreal.
“It’s a minor concern, if that,” Weinert said. “Obviously, she’s not going to be the face for a perfume. But her relationship with the apparel companies isn’t going to change.”
When the scent arrives in the U.S., it “will be in a limited distribution,” Weinert said, noting the count will reach around 300 department store and specialty store doors.
Mexico will follow America, while Europe will probably get the product in 1999.
At the core of Valeria’s promotional strategy is an extensive plan of fragrance sampling, Weinert said: “There hasn’t been a lot of activity like this in South America, so it will be something new. This level of sampling is unusual.”
The company will dole out vial-on-card samples in stores, will hand out fragranced cards and will mail postcards affixed with 3M’s Fragrance Burst sampling technology. Nearly two million scented pieces will be distributed in South America before the tactics are taken up in the U.S. late in the spring.
Advertising is also in the works. Valeria will star in her own print campaign, photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, which will first appear in March editions of various Latin American magazines, such as Para Ti and the Argentine versions of Cosmopolitan and Elle. It will most likely hit newsstands in May editions of American fashion titles.
As a result of the efforts, Weinert said, the company expects Valeria will ring up a wholesale volume in the $5 million range this year, with $10 million in annual sales expected after two or so years on the market. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Special Olympics, of which Valeria is a longtime supporter.
The fragrance, created by Givaudan Roure, is described as a modern floral and has top notes of white freesia, bergamot and nectarine; a middle of jasmine, rose, violet, cassie and magnolia, and a base of sandalwood, cedar wood and musk.
“I like light, floral fragrances,” said Valeria. “This [fragrance] is very fresh, it’s very sunny. It’s supposed to smell like a beach in Costa Rica.”
The line will include two fragrance sizes: a 0.5-oz. eau de parfum purse spray for $20 and a 1.7-oz. version for $40. The collection will be rounded out by shower gel and body lotion.
The curvy bottle, which is produced by Saint Gobain Desjonqueres, is frosted glass, while the juice is a violet color. The shape was inspired by Valeria’s silhouette, and some tweaking was needed, she said, in order to produce a proper replica.
“I was saying, ‘No, no, no, I want more [in the front] and less in the back,”‘ she remembered. “Now it looks like me.”