Sophia Loren

Oleg Cassini

Joan Collins

D OLLA RS

IL lT T T hat's in a name?
That which we call
a rose by any other
name would smell
as sweet," said Romeo to Juliet in
William Shakespeare's famous 17th
century play. Today the question of
the importance of a name is still
unanswered.
Many fragrances have adopted in-
stant celebrity status by using a well-
known figure to tout a scent. It often
seems as if almost everyone in Holly-
wood has a perfume line. Elizabeth
Taylor, Jaclyn Smith, Oleg Cassini,
Joan Collins, Billy Dee Williams, Cher,
Mikhail Baryshnikov and Priscilla
Presley are only a few examples of
celebrities with their names on
perfumes.
These mega-stars have entered in-
to a mega-buck market. According to
Andrew Shore, first vice president of
cosmetics and household products at
Prudential Bache, the total cosmetic
fragrance industry has $2.15 billion in

■ BY CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ

sales annually, and it can cost up to
$20 million to develop and launch a
new perfume.
Shore points out that celebrities
must really be involved in the mar-
keting of the product. "You need
more than a name, you need a com-

mitment and personal appearance,"
says Shore. Shore cites the perfume,
"Uninhibited: by Cher, which isn't do-
ing well since Cher cancelled promo-
tional engagements.
Women's Wear Daily reports that
Elizabeth Taylor's "Passion," an
Elizabeth Arden product, is doing
well with estimates of more than $40

million in sales in its second year. Pas-
sion debuted in 1987, followed by a
bath collection, perfume for men and
"Passionate Essentials," a cosmetic
bag filled with Taylor's Passion pro-
ducts. Taylor is totally committed to
the project and is working on new
cosmetic ventures.
Actor Billy Dee Williams endorses
the Avon product, "Undeniable."
Undeniable is the company's first
celebrity-endorsed fragrance in its
103 years in business. According to
Avon, Billy Dee William's popularity
spans a diverse cross section of
American women.
Jaclyn Smith's "California" was
launched in 1989 by Max Factor. The
fragrance won the best women's fra-
grance introduction in mass distri-
bution at the 18th Annual Fragrance
Foundation Recognition Awards. As
with many celebrity fragrances,
California was launched exclusively at
one store (in this case, Blooming-
dale's) and made available nationwide

S CE N T S