Posted on Leave a comment

Scent Notes: “Gendarme”

Cult scents are interesting in several ways, but primarily in how they became cults in the first place. There is never really a straightforward answer to the question; if marketers, whose job it is to build cults around products, knew the answer, then every individual in the world would have his own branded scent, ringtone and reality television show. But you know a cult-worthy brand when you see one. And they tend to take you by surprise.

I was at a lunch at a waterfront beach house on Fire Island, N.Y., five years ago when one of the hosts thrust his wrist at me. “Do you like it?” His expression was wide-eyed and intense as he watched me lean in to take in the scent. I thought about it for a moment. I said yes, I liked it, and that it was similar to masculine scents I’d smelled before _ traditionalist, fresh and clean, with a sharp, dry lemon-and-bitter-orange citrus anchored to a solid, dry spice core. But I didn’t recognize it. It was as tightly structured as a uniform but light and friendly enough that it didn’t feel military. More like something from the men’s department at Barneys. The host was barefoot, wearing a bathing suit and a polo shirt, and the scent worked with that look _ but I assumed that during the week, back in the city, he wore the same fragrance with a navy Calvin Klein two-button suit. What was it?

“Gendarme!” he said.

I’d never heard of it. It wasn’t associated with any brand (well _ the brand was Gendarme, which I hadn’t heard of). When had he gotten it?

“Years ago. I never wear anything else. It’s my scent.” He said this as though he’d made it himself. “You’ve never heard of it? Seriously?” He looked incredulous for an instant, then smiled. “You will.”

I did, in the same way that after meeting a friend of friends, you suddenly bump into him everywhere. I saw someone I knew from The New York Times on the subway. We chatted. I stopped. “What are you wearing?”

“Gendarme,” he said. “I totally love it _ it’s my scent.”

In 1983, when a man named Topper Schroeder set out to find a scent that he could call his own, he was just another guy. He knew nothing about making a fragrance. But he had scoured department stores and had come up with nothing, so he did something rather unorthodox: He decided to have one made.

With “a market of one,” as Schroeder describes it, it is not easy to get a fragrance project off the ground. To have a perfume made for yourself is a luxury _ and a feat requiring herculean persistence. Through luck and determination, Schroeder eventually found the perfumer Bob Slatery and directed him in creating a new cologne. “A clean masculine scent,” Schroeder says. “That’s what I wanted. Crisp and fresh.” When it was finished, Schroeder named it “Gendarme.” (In the 15th century, French cavalrymen were called “gens d’armes”; later, the word morphed into “gendarme” and came to mean “police.”)

Schroeder wore “Gendarme” happily. Then he began to retail it. Within a few years, he had introduced “Gendarme” shaving cream, body wash, moisturizer and more. He expanded the scent line with flankers: “Gendarme-V,” which is heavier and grassier than the original, and “Grabazzi,” with slightly more spice.

The scents and other products are available at Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, and “Gendarme” is among the top five men’s fragrances at Barneys stores throughout the United States. But perhaps the most impressive expansion of the “Gendarme” line is the extraordinary home base that Schroeder built _ it’s difficult to know what to call it: a private recluse? A small fantasy world? Schroeder opened a brand headquarters, the Gendarmerie spa, all but hidden on a tiny West Hollywood side street called Nemo. Done up in the style of a Key West bungalow, the Gendarmerie has a masculine Hemingway-in-Havana living room where guests can sit and chat, and a quiet stone terrace out back, beneath palm trees. Inside, you might find yourself casually sitting next to a celebrity, your respective barbershop stations a few feet apart.

The small but complete spa takes you through the “Gendarme” product line. And afterward, you emerge into the mild California air, shaded by the palms, smelling lightly fresh and clean with a sharp, dry lemon-and-bitter-orange citrus anchored to a solid dry spice core.

– By Chandler Burr
NY Times Syndicates

Posted on Leave a comment

A Whiff of Freshness

Five years ago on my birthday, I received a gift from one of my muses and closest friends. From the shape of the simple white paper package, I could tell that it was either a cologne or skincare product. True enough, I received a bottle of clear scent.

“Why would anyone give a cologne?” I wondered. Scent is a very personal choice; you have to put it on to see how the tones develop with your natural oils. Being vegetarian makes it doubly hard to find a suitable one. Very particular about what goes into the scent, I avoid animal-based essences especially when I developed seborrheic reactions to certain pigment components in perfumes.

The clear liquid showed promise and when I sprayed some in the air, I instantly liked the top notes. A spurt on the wrist, behind the ears and fifteen minutes later, I found another scent that’s on the top 3 of my list (the two others come from European perfumers whose names start with B——and C—–)

Confirming that the new scent worked for me were two friends who also bought bottles for themselves after I wore it to an editorial meeting and post-workout snack at the gym. This cologne is Gendarme.

A few months ago, Sevrine Miailhe, Marketing Communications Manager for Rustan’s cosmetics, toiletries and perfumery invited this jotter to the press launch of Gendarme. No less than Jonathan Risco, the president and international ambassador of Gendarme Fragrances flew in from LA for this launch and the exclusive party hosted by ZEE Lifestyle Magazine and Tanya McCarthy.

As administrator for the company, Risco increased the brand extensions and got personally involved in the creation of Gendarme EDP, Green, and Gendarme SKY. His marketing expertise has allowed Gendarme to grow from a California “Cult Classic” to an industry bellwether.

The new bottles look great but I have yet to try them. Still happy with my n’th bottle of Gendarme, now I realize that if you know a person well enough and had been hanging out around him long enough, you can actually tell if a cologne suits his personality and chemistry with just a whiff.

Blog article by OJ Hofer

Posted on Leave a comment

The Sweet Smell of Success

Gendarme was meant to fail from the very beginning, insists its current president and chief executive officer, Jonathan Risco. “I went to business school and the model that we have at Gendarme shouldn’t work. If you try to replicate the business model now it’s very hard. It’s like a scene from Forrest Gump. Despite weird circumstances, everything just fell into place,” says the 20-year veteran of the fragrance industry in his West Hollywood drawl. Without celebrity endorsers, without advertising, and with a scent that was easily overpowered by the strong colognes that were the trend during that time, Gendarme seemed doomed to fail in California’s heavily competitive market. But today, with its boutique in glamorous West Hollywood, Gendarme has become one of the best selling fragrances at Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, and Macy’s’ and is the number one selling fragrance in Barney’s for over 18 years now.

“We did not sell to or call any of the shops that carry Gendarme now; the distributors called us. And for business models, that is unheard of. Until this day I have presidents from other corporations calling me up and asking me, ‘How do you do it?’ They spend millions and millions of dollars in advertising yet we spend zero.”

No doubt, Gendarme has become a cult classic fragrance that boasts a clientele of “who’s who” like Tom Cruise, Debra Messing, Sharon Stone and former US President Bill Clinton. Their current expansion in Asia with their first boutique at Rustan’s Makati is testament to their growing power.

“Some people assumed that we would go to China first for our franchise in Asia, but Filipinos know how to speak English and Filipinos already have a connection with the US, so you don’t have to work so hard. Opening up a boutique in the Philippines is not smart, it’s common sense,” says Jonathan matter-of-factly.

But one cannot talk about the success of Gendarme or the success of Jonathan without mentioning the man behind the fragrance, Topper Schroeder.

Topper Schroeder, the creator of Gendarme, was neither a perfumer nor a businessman but an asthmatic, scent-sensitive executive from the music industry who could not find a fragrance that suited him. With the help of a friend who worked at Chanel’s perfumery, they customized a crisp and fresh scent that Topper loves. Topper bought the minimum order of 700 bottles of the perfume, 699 more than he needed. To make use of the remaining hundreds, Topper gave then away as gifts to friends in the music industry until Gendarme – the name he had given his fragrance, a French moniker for “policeman” – was picked up by the chic and trendy California clothing store Fred Segal. And the rest, as they say, is history.

But this in only the beginning for Jonathan Risco. Jonathan had contributed o Gendarme’s success even before he took any executive position with the company. Jonathan, a graduate of California State Polytechnic, was introduced to Gendarme when he worked part-time selling fragrances at Nordstrom as a student. Jonathan admits that he was not the type of guy who fancied cologne – “I use to be in the army, I wore only deodorant” – but after trying on Gendarme, he became an instant convert. The store where Jonathan worked as a fragrance sampler became the best selling store within weeks.

From fragrance sampler to regional distributer to president, Jonathan has since increased the brand extensions by becoming directly involved in the creation of Gendarme products like Gendarme EDP, Green and Gendarme SKY, which are three of his outstanding contributions. Jonathan is also currently working on three exclusive fragrances for Rustan’s 60th anniversary.

“I’m very hands-on with Gendarme. From packaging to marketing to sales, I have counterparts in different companies who spend a lot of them with the executives. But I’ve never heard or seen one of them sell a fragrance in their life. You should spend your time with the people who sell your stuff, which is why I always talk to the people at the counter. I love talking to them because how they react is a reflection of how they get treated at the top.

“As a boss, I’m very laid-back in the sense that I will never ask from you what I myself have never done. I personally want to work with the team and I don’t want people to fear me. I never want to be a dictator type.”

With his charisma and easy-going stance, one would not doubt that his is the type of boss one could invite over for Thanksgiving dinner.

Jonathan is proud to have worked his way up the ranks and prouder still of how his passion and dedication to the company has lifted Gendarme from being a cult classic fragrance to now industry bellwether.

Article by Kristel Dacumos for People Asia

Posted on Leave a comment

Gendarme – A Lightly Clean and Crisp Men’s Fragrance

I will never forget my first experience with Gendarme, which today is still one of my favorite, if not the favorite, cologne I like to wear.

It was 1991 and I had just moved to Los Angeles, California, and I was out shopping with some friends at the Beverly Center, a large commercial shopping mall.  A friend of mine suggested we go elsewhere and we ended up at International Male which boutique is no longer there today.  Regardless, before I moved to Los Angeles I would always receive the International Male mail order catalog which was the type of catalog guys were almost too embarrassed to open since all the clothing revolved around racy underwear for men.  During the late 1980’s, catalogs just did not focus on brawny tan men sporting their naturalness in underwear, with the exception of International Male.  My experience at the boutique, needless to say, was even worse since all of the clothing their also revolved around racy underwear for the “kept” man and even in the early 1990’s, I just wasn’t having it.  The catalog was better because I could close it but inside the boutique the only thing I could do was run out of there.  What added insult to injury was the fact that the guys that worked at International Male at the then time even looked like the models in the catalog!  The only thing I could purchase was my first spray bottle of Gendarme and only because it was pretty much the only classic looking merchandise available and since I was in a shopping competition with my friends, I had to purchase something so I wouldn’t look like an idiot.  In 1991 the 4 oz. spray bottle cost me $40 plus tax and today, the Company lists the fragrance at $72.00 although the suggested retail value is between $50.00 and $72.00.

Regardless, luckily for me, I would later find out that I could purchase Gendarme at various locations, including Macy’s at the Beverly Center.

In concert with what the Company states about this particular fragrance, I am in complete agreement and add that to me it smells very clean like a gently sweet non-confrontational cotton or linen type of fragrance.  Whenever I wear the fragrance, I always receive compliments and even from those in the office that typically cannot be around others who wear fragrances.   The fragrance is very California and although great year-round and especially for heavy fingers that love to spray an entire bottle in one application, not much of an application is necessary for a long-lasting aroma due to its oil base, yet perfect for heavy fingers in that too much of an application won’t result in a confrontational overpowering fumigation.

Review by John Huetteman on eOpinions.com