PARIS — Parfums de Marly and Initio Parfums Privés are on a growth trajectory.
In their parent company Artessence Group’s most recent fiscal year, ended March 31, retail sales for the two niche fragrance brands combined increased 39 percent against the same prior 12-month period, breaking through the $1 billion mark for the first time, according to Patrice Béliard.
He has served as chief executive officer of Artessence, formerly called Sprecher Berrier Group of Companies, or SBGC, since October 2025.
Retail sales for Marly, which surpassed $780 million, gained 42 percent. Those for Initio at slightly above $220 million were up 32 percent.
“We are very proud of this growth, which really shows the strength of each brand,” said Béliard, a seasoned beauty executive who most recently worked at the Estée Lauder Cos. and Shiseido. “And the fact that this company that was founded by Julien Sprecher really has both an extremely strong DNA for building brands and a very strong commercial arm that I’ve rarely seen in my career, that I really admire.”
Sprecher founded Artessence, currently the largest independent niche fragrance platform, in 2009. Today he serves as its executive chairman and as creative director of Marly.
Private equity group Advent International took a majority stake in the brands in June 2023 in a deal industry sources valued at more than $700 million.
Béliard had no comment on media speculation that the business is for sale. He did, however, confirm that Jefferies and Goldman Sachs have been hired as advisers.
“The business is getting very big, so we want to make sure that we do the right things,” he said.
Artessence focuses on like-for-like productivity per door as a key metric.
“Our policy is we open [doors] once we are sure that the new location is going to be complementary to the rest of the business,” Béliard said.
Like-for-like, excluding Artessence’s activity in Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus in the U.S., the company’s retail sales grew 18 percent.
“In France, where we are catching up a lot, we grew by 51 percent comp,” Béliard said. “We go into detail, ensuring that our existing doors are growing. Otherwise, we don’t open new doors.”
At the end of the company’s 2026 fiscal year, Parfums de Marly had 25 of its own boutiques worldwide, and Initio had one.
“We are planning in the new fiscal to open at least another 20 freestanding stores,” Béliard said.
A few new doors have already been confirmed. An Initio door will be open in May on New York’s Madison Avenue and another in Miami’s Aventura Mall in September. These follow the opening of an Initio store in London’s Covent Garden in March.
“Initio is getting to a level where we are opening more freestanding stores internationally,” Béliard said.
Also in May will be the debut of a Marly boutique in Miami Dadeland Mall and in Aventura Mall in September.
“We already plan to open a boutique in Hong Kong, one in Melbourne, one in Cebu in the Philippines and another one in Jeddah,” Béliard said of the ambitious plan.
Altogether, at the end of its recent fiscal year, Marly was in about 1,500 doors worldwide, and Initio was in about 1,200 doors.
“The strength of the company is that we have a very strong core, basic catalog of products that is growing in a very significant way,” Béliard said. That business has increased sales by more than 30 percent.
Sales for Marly’s Delina franchise, for instance, continue to gain by double digits. Valaya, which launched about two years ago, is posting more than a 30 percent increase.
“The latest launches are performing extremely well, as well,” Béliard said.
The activity for Initio, with functional fragrances meant to trigger emotions, is performing strongly, too.
“What is incredible is the last launches are already accounting for about 16 percent, 17 percent of the mix of business,” Béliard said, referring to perfumes such as Lift Me Up, part of the Hedonist Collection and giving an energizing effect. It is selling above forecast.
There’s Can’t Get Enough, part of the Carnal Blends with fragrances including an overdose of hedione, a molecule said to activate pheromones. “And we have a very strong pipeline of launches coming ahead,” Béliard said.
Initio’s Can’t Get Enough.
Photo by Karl-Christopher Calone/Courtesy of Artessence Group
Marly’s Athénaïs, inspired by Athénaïs de Montespan, is proving to have the best sell-out of a company launch in the U.S, where it was introduced in February. The scent is being rolled out to the rest of the world.
“I’m convinced that it’s going to [propel] itself into like the top three of the brand very quickly,” Béliard said.
On social, according to earned media value, or EMV, in the U.S. during 2025, Marly ranked first and was in the top five in Europe among niche fragrances, according to Lefty. (Today it’s in the top three there.)
The U.S. is Artessence’s largest region, accounting for nearly 50 percent of its total business. Europe, including the U.K., is the second-largest geographic zone, followed by the Middle East.
Meanwhile, travel retail sales have been doubling in size.
In 2025, Marly and its Delina franchise ranked first in sell-out in Dubai Duty Free among niche fragrances, with more than 4,200 units of Marly scent sold monthly.
“We are growing in a very significant way in domestic, as well, in this region,” Béliard said. In the January through March 2026 period, company sales in Kuwait’s domestic market were up 75 percent year-over-year. There was also a significant rise in digital sales in the Middle East.
“APAC is a region which is picking up a lot,” Béliard said. “We are also starting to invest more in China.” Marly opened a boutique in Shanghai’s Xintiandi neighborhood, for instance.
Béliard called the 2026 fiscal year “very strong,” and said that Artessence has an ambitious program for fiscal 2027.
Initio is introducing two new fragrances.
“It’s a very important moment for the brand, because it’s the launch of our fifth collection, called Supercharged,” Béliard said, adding it includes Wild Rush and Sugar Blast.
The new collection is made in partnership with Dsm-Firmenich. “It’s built with a scientifically proven molecule that will trigger joy,” Béliard said. “We call it the Joy Drop Complex.”
Marly introduced a new collection of extracts in September 2025. “The launch started very well,” Béliard said. “We intend it to be like 10 percent of mix of business on the brand. So we will continue to work that, and we are continuing to transform our stores.”
Key strategies overall are to keep growing productivity per door and excellence.
Patrice Béliard
Photo by Frédéric Boyadjian/Courtesy of Artessence Group
Marly opened its third boutique in Paris on April 1, located in the Marais district. “It is the latest generation of boutiques,” Béliard said. “But we continue to work a lot on the concepts.”
Another priority for Marly is to continue opening doors where it’s relevant.
“On Initio there are a lot of [priorities] that are similar, but we’re going to dig even further into the brand equity, into the brand platforming,” Béliard said.
Initio just named Emmy Aoun Gestin as its chief marketing officer.
“There is gigantic potential for the brand,” Béliard said. “And we see a very significant growth for next year on Initio.”
Average suggested retail prices for the larger sizes are $424 for Marly and $441 for Initio.
Béliard said he has been impressed by the people at Artessence and their passion for their jobs. He said they have a family spirit, an entrepreneurial mindset and agility. Béliard credits Sprecher with instilling those from Day One.
For Marly and Initio the definition of niche includes the likes of the best ingredients, bottles and caps.
“One of the things that I will really continue to push is the strive for excellence in everything we touch, in everything we do,” Béliard said. “The only way is up.”
