Cloud Dancer, Pantone color of the year 2026

As the year draws to a close, the industry sees fresh developments, key olfactory trends emerging from markets like Asia, and a sharp acceleration in sales driven by the holiday season.

Cloud Dancer, Pantone Color of the Year 2026

If there's one thing that defines us as humans, it is our ability to dream, and this year, Pantone is embracing that outlook toward a more hopeful future. The result is Cloud Dancer (PANTONE 11-4201), a serene white that symbolizes calm amid noise and uncertainty, while leaving room for creativity and innovation.

"Like a blank canvas, Cloud Dancer symbolizes our desire for a new beginning. A luminous white, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer creates space for creativity, allowing our imagination to flow so that new perspectives and bold ideas emerge and take shape," explains Laurie Pressman, Vice President.

As in 2025, Pantone has once again partnered with Pura to explore the connection between color and fragrance. The resulting scent is ethereal and luminous, built around notes of magnolia, solar flowers, musk, amber, and sandalwood.

Meanwhile, dsm-firmenich has unveiled a collection of ten fragrances developed using its neuroscientific emotiOn program, designed to evoke serenity in an increasingly fast-paced world.

Perfume: the star gift of the holiday season

Fragrance continues to strengthen its leadership position within the U.S. beauty market in 2025. Data from January to September shows:

● +6% growth in luxury fragrance sales ($5.9 billion)
● +17% growth in the mass market
● Strong demand for high-concentration formulas, mini formats (+12% in units), and discovery sets (+41%)

The third quarter reinforced momentum into the holiday season, with growth in mass market fragrances and solid performance in prestige, both in value and volume. According to Circana, demand is becoming increasingly polarized: luxury brands are posting double-digit growth, while smaller formats are attracting new consumers as accessible gifting options.

In the fourth quarter, luxury fragrance sales are expected to surpass $4 billion once again, with nearly 60% concentrated in December. One in five U.S. consumers gifted fragrance last year, and purchase intent is even higher this season.

One in five American consumers gave fragrances as gifts last year, and the purchase intention for this season is even higher, according to Circana United States.

LVMH Luxury Ventures takes a stake in BDK Parfums

LVMH Luxury Ventures has acquired a minority stake in BDK Parfums, marking a milestone for the French fragrance house founded by David Benedek. It is the first time the brand has welcomed external investment, with Benedek retaining creative control and the brand's artisanal identity.

Since its launch in 2016, BDK Parfums has built an "olfactory library" inspired by distinctive characters, stories, and landscapes. In 2025, the brand recorded 45% sales growth, further cementing its position within the niche fragrance segment.

The deal supports its international expansion strategy. After opening its first boutique on Rue Saint-Honoré in 2024, the brand plans further openings from 2026 onward, with Dubai set as the next destination. Today, it operates in 45 countries, with France as its leading market, followed by the United States and Germany, and is experiencing strong growth in the Middle East and Asia.

Generation Z and millennials drive the growth of the perfume market in Asia.

Johanna Monange analyzes emerging olfactive trends in Asia

At the IFRA summit in Singapore, Johanna Monange, founder of Maison 21G Paris, highlighted a profound shift: luxury is no longer defined by price alone, but by emotion, authenticity, and personalization. With 71% of consumers expecting tailored experiences (according to McKinsey), perfume is becoming "the most intimate expression of identity."

Generation Z and millennials, responsible for more than 60% of the growth in the Asian fragrance market, are driving this transformation. They seek co-creation, transparency around ingredient origins, and fragrances that reflect their cultural heritage.

Olfactive preferences by country

China
Balanced, fresh, and elegant fragrances.
Notes: tea, osmanthus, mimosa, sandalwood, peony, and vetiver.

Korea
An embrace of calm: perfume as self-care and inner harmony.
Notes: green tea, lily of the valley, rhubarb, and oceanic accords.

India
Spiritual intensity and opulent warmth.
Notes: sandalwood, incense, jasmine, tuberose, spices, oud, tonka bean, and tobacco.

Singapore
Intercultural and vibrant, blending tropical nature with modernity, and a preference for fresh yet subtly sensual compositions.
Notes: sage, mimosa, lily of the valley, marine notes, vetiver, sandalwood, tonka bean, and ambergris.

Monange concludes that Asia has become the world's new global laboratory for fragrance, where technology, creativity, and culture converge.

News

Highlights December 2025

As the year draws to a close, the industry sees fresh developments, key olfactory trends emerging from markets like Asia, and a sharp acceleration in sales driven by the holiday season.