The spirit of a decade
YouTube and then Instagram gave rise to influential amateur reviewers who brought once-confidential houses to a wide audience. Creed's Aventus, in 2010, became a word-of-mouth phenomenon, and Maison Francis Kurkdjian's Baccarat Rouge 540, in 2015, marked the decade with its ambery, crystalline trail. Large groups bought niche houses: Estée Lauder acquired Le Labo and Frédéric Malle in 2014. In the mass market, Dior's Sauvage, in 2015, took over with ambroxan, while Lancôme's La Vie est Belle, in 2012, and Yves Saint Laurent's Black Opium, in 2014, put gourmands at the top. Flankers multiplied, intense, extreme or elixir, and the line between niche and luxury blurred, with brands such as Parfums de Marly and Initio building their reputations on that middle ground.
