Various factors, including a post-Covid shopping environment, have led consumers to seek out fragrance products, from candles to perfumes, now more than ever.  As Linda Levy, president of The Fragrance Foundation, theorised, the rise in demand for scented products has a lot to do with the fact losing the sense of smell was a noted side-effect of having Covid.  “While people were possibly losing their sense of smell, to some extent on a temporary or permanent basis, the sense of smell really became an elevated sense in terms of its value to consumers,” she told Inside Retail.  With an increased interest in fragrances, especially from Gen Z consumers, who are infinitely more interested in building what is dubbed a ‘fragrance wardrobe,’ and having multiple scents in rotation to fit a variety of moods and style aesthetics, consumers are exploring an increased variety of scents,  from ‘clean’ formulations to ones from independent brands, especially those run by BIPOC entrepreneurs.  From consumers to creators  Black-owned brands like Moodeaux, Chémin, and several others have experienced slow but steady growth.  A representative from consumer behavior analytics firm Circana noted that the distribution of Black-founded fragrance brands rose over 9 per cent in unit sales across mass beauty retailers from 2021 to 2022, which was three times the overall fragrance market rate in the same period. According to American market research company The NPD Group, over 85 per cent of Black and Hispanic consumers wear perfume and other fragrance products, in comparison to 78 per cent of the total US population. A study released by NielsenIQ in February 2023 revealed that 2022 omnichannel fragrance sales by Black consumers in the US increased to $1.5 billion, marking a 32 per cent boost in volume sales compared to the same period in 2021.  While Black and Hispanic shoppers make up a large concentration of fragrance sales, there is still a great disparity between the percentage of Black fragrance consumers and Black-founded and owned olfactory brands on the market.  This imbalance led fragrance influencer Glenn Davis, more commonly known by his Instagram handle @mrcologne76, which has 113,000 followers and counting, to launch Black-Owned Fragrance Week. Davis told Inside Retail, “My passion for fragrance and my observation of disparities in the representation of Black-owned fragrance brands inspired me to create a platform dedicated to shining a spotlight on these brands. With over 2,000 fragrance brands in my collection, only a tiny portion were Black-owned. When I learned that over 80 per cent of fragrance sales are generated from BIPOC communities I felt compelled to elevate the visibility of Black-owned brands within the industry.”  As Black-Owned Fragrance Week continues to evolve, his vision is to make it more than just a week-long event but rather a catalyst for ongoing support and unity within the fragrance community.  “My ultimate goal is to foster a sense of cohesion among Black content creators in the fragrance space, providing a framework for collaboration and amplification of Black-owned brands throughout the year,” he said. The conference, which is in its third year, is running from February 3-10.  Factors led to the recent rise of Black-owned fragrance brands  In addition to events like Black-Owned Fragrance Week, initiatives launched by fragrance entrepreneurs, such as the Black in Fragrance grant created by Moodeuax founder Brianna Arps, and non-profit organisations, such as The Fragrance Foundation (TFF), and the growing power of social media platforms like TikTok to drive sales, have also helped increase visibility and create both financial and networking opportunities for Black founders of fragrance brands.  In October 2021, TFF launched the #FragranceForwardTFF initiative, a diversity scholarship providing $100,000 annually to undergrad and graduate students at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). TFF also launched a career development workshop series at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and similar organisations targeting minority groups across the US.  Another major player in the growth of Black-owned fragrance brands is New Orleans-based fragrance expert Elle N, founder of BlackPerfumers.com and the director of BlackPerfumers.  These sites “are dedicated to the representation and visibility of Black voices and businesses in the fragrance industry, and also to demonstrate that this growing sector matters,” Elle explained to Inside Retail. “The first platforms of their kind to serve Black perfumers and fragrance brand founders, the idea began back in 2014, but officially launched in 2020 – first with the informational hub, then I added the brand directory in 2023. Both platforms feature established and emerging brands from around the world.” She elaborated: “From my own observations since launching the platforms, I’ve seen a noticeable growth of Black-owned fragrance brands in the market. Every year, I’m learning about new brands. As far as numbers go, I have yet to see a published report of precise data, but there are a lot of opportunities to increase the amount of Black-owned perfume brands.” She called on fragrance departments in stores to actively seek out Black-owned fragrance brands.  “Too many times I go in shops and ask if they carry any brands by Black perfumers and the answer is ‘I don’t know’ or ‘no.’  It’s great to shop online for these brands, but more deserve physical shelf space,” she said. Another factor the scent expert noted that is significantly contributing to the rise of Black-owned brands in the industry is the power of social media, specifically the rising influence of hashtags like #fragrancetok. “Fragrance influencers are sharing and introducing people to BIPOC-owned brands faster than big store names can keep up. Before social media, the typical ways we learned about a brand was directly through that store’s marketing, but that’s changed and I think that creates more opportunities for BIPOC-owned brands to reach people,” she said.