A Perfumery & Beauty story
The search for a stand-out concept
Burberry is a luxury prestige brand within the Coty group, one of the world’s largest beauty companies. For its new pillar fragrance, Burberry was looking for a novel concept – something truly iconic that could be the next blockbuster in fine fragrance. Burberry collaborated with our Principal Perfumer, Amandine Clerc-Marie, to create a fragrance evoking a vision of beauty and feminine power, inspired by the animal kingdom – a new olfactive journey that led to the creation of Burberry Goddess.
A universal archetype
Burberry is an iconic brand known for its blend of British elegance and modernity, so Amandine imagined a fragrance that combined the two, enhancing a woman’s strength and confidence through its bold new signature. The project brief emphasized this idea of a powerful woman, fierce and feline. As such, the new fragrance was conceived as representing a strong archetype with which women could connect.
Burberry sought a meaningful symbol of desire and inner strength, a fragrance that revealed not only femininity, but also a woman’s pride and power. Our master perfumer immediately linked this femininity to vanilla, one of the ingredients most loved by consumers, which was in line to become the most sought-after ingredient of the year.
Vanilla has many facets, from soft, round undertones to a more powerful, animalic olfaction. Amandine’s vision of Burberry Goddess as a strong, emotional scent would be brought to life by this emblematic ingredient, using a unique combination of three different vanillas to showcase our expertise in quality, sourcing, and extraction.
A first in the market
Amandine found a luminous infusion with an animalic extract. This was the starting point for her olfactive building process. The creation started with the selection of materials and a desire to convey a distinct olfactory message: female empowerment, strength, confidence, and sophistication with universal appeal.
After several months of development and around 400 formula combinations, the foundation began to take shape. The unique blend of the three vanillas produced an intense fragrance which, when combined with lavender, created a unique scent that was a first in the market.
The quest for the perfect vanilla accord
Vanilla is a sensual ingredient, soft and strong, conforming and untamable. To bring out these facets, Amandine used our world-class palette, sourcing expertise, and leadership in extraction techniques.
The first is Firgood® Vanilla, deployed for the first time ever in a fragrance and exclusively for Burberry. With our innovative Firgood® technology, we can extract the vanilla without any solvent, obtaining a sweet, rich and animalic note. Highly sustainable Firgood® uses electromagnetic vibrations to capture the intrinsic water of precious raw materials. Amandine also used a vanilla infusion from Madagascar, which provides the brightest woody-vanilla possible and a luminous top note. The vanilla sourced from Madagascar has higher concentrations of flavor and is the gold standard for this ingredient.
Finally, Amandine finished with the darker and richer vanilla absolute, which gives the fragrance a mysterious and a milky facet. She also wrapped the precious vanilla with other ingredients, sourced from around the world, which coat it and contrast with it: lavender from the Provence, aromatic and powerful shiso leaf from Asia, ginger root from Nigeria, and cocoa absolute from the Ivory Coast.
Vanilla offers a wide range of olfactive facets, from sweet and powdery to woody, spicy, or smoky, depending on the extraction method. Here, we crafted an enhanced vanilla, blending its many facets with a high dosage of lavender – a bold, feminine twist on a traditionally masculine note, achieving a unique Burberry creation.
Acclaim and awards
Burberry Goddess proved to be one of the most successful feminine fragrance launches of 2024. This triumph was not solely attributable to its unique and captivating scent, but also to the prestigious accolades it garnered from some of the industry's most respected awards bodies and authorities.
The fragrance was honored with three major awards: Fragrance of the Year from the esteemed Fragrance Foundation Awards in the US; Best New Feminine Launch from the prestigious Fragrance Foundation Awards France; and Best Prestige Female Fragrance in the coveted Duftstars Awards in Germany.
This recognition, coupled with a strong reception in the press – particularly from renowned beauty magazines such as Marie Claire and ELLE – helped to seal Burberry Goddess's position as a truly unique fragrance sensation, and that of Perfumery & Beauty as a key player in the wider industry.
