The Lacoste fragrance license is in recent hands.

Just just a few hours after Coty announced it had sold it back to Lacoste by mutual agreement for an undisclosed sum, Lacoste said it had signed a 15-year worldwide licensing agreement with Interparfums SA.

Lacoste president Thierry Guibert said, “We’re very appreciative of Coty’s support throughout our partnership. With Coty, Lacoste has taken a vital step in the event of its fragrance lines. It’s now time for the brand to renew its approach to proceed its growth, in a market where Lacoste still has great potential.”

WWD understands Lacoste has a giant footprint in Russia, an area that Coty has divested from attributable to its invasion of Ukraine.

“For each Coty and Lacoste, the exit by end of CY23 represents our respective yet mutually useful priorities. This sale advances Coty’s strategic objectives, by enabling Coty to further concentrate on our largest fragrance licenses, while accelerating our deleveraging agenda through the sales proceeds,” said Sue Y. Nabi, CEO of Coty, which had managed Lacoste’s fragrances for the past six years.

Under the brand new deal that covers all perfumes and cosmetic lines, Interparfums will likely be tasked with the creation, development, production and marketing of Lacoste products each in selective distribution and the French sports brand’s retail network. 

The deal will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, after wrapping up Lacoste’s existing relationship with Coty, which is able to end in 2023, while the launch of a recent Lacoste perfume line is slated for 2024.

“Interparfums’ proven know-how and creativity will likely be key assets to proceed the event of our fragrance category, which plays a big role in Lacoste’s popularity,” Guibert said in an announcement, noting the continued potential of the fragrance category for the sports lifestyle label and “an approach that’s increasingly consistent with the brand’s strong identity codes.”

Philippe Benacin, chief executive officer of Interparfums SA, described Lacoste as “an emblematic brand on this planet of fashion and sport with a really high level of awareness and desirability throughout the world,” lauding the “clear and precise vision of the brand’s great development potential” of Lacoste’s leadership team.

Interparfums SA is the French subsidiary of Interparfums Inc., which holds the exclusive worldwide licenses to develop and distribute fragrances for quite a few high-end brands, including Boucheron, Coach, Jimmy Choo, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade, Moncler, Montblanc and Van Cleef & Arpels. It also owns Lanvin fragrances and the Rochas brand.

Similtaneously announcing the sale of the Lacoste license, Coty has renewed its license with Hugo Boss. The partnership, which began in 2016 and has now been prolonged beyond 2035, includes all Boss and Hugo fragrances for men and girls.

Nabi said the extension “is consistent with Coty’s strategic objective to concentrate on key brands which might grow to be global powerhouses, while driving a balanced growth agenda across our fragrance portfolio.” Coty has seen financial success from large fragrance lines including Gucci and Marc Jacobs.

Following the Hugo Boss license renewal, which incorporates no material changes in licensing terms, Coty has no sizable license up for renewal in the following six years. The typical remaining duration of Coty’s top six licenses — which together account for greater than 80 percent of Coty’s prestige fragrance business — is now roughly 10 years, the corporate said.

Earlier this 12 months, Nabi told WWD that while the lipstick effect is mentioned often, she believes it’s now all about the fragrance effect, and that Coty’s prestige fragrances having been flying off the shelves despite recession fears and sky-high inflation.

More recently, Coty’s net revenues got here in at about $1.4 billion in the primary quarter ended Sept. 30. This was up 1 percent from a 12 months earlier and a touch above analysts’ forecasts of $1.37 billion, in keeping with a Factset poll.