PARIS — Perfume is in Balmain’s DNA.

“Fragrance has always been a very critical part of the history of the house,” said Jessica Wolfe, global interim general manager at Balmain Beauty.

The brand launched back into the world of scent in late August 2024, with Les Éternels de Balmain. Prior to that, its perfume business had been practically dormant since 2017, which gave something of a clean slate for Balmain and the Estée Lauder Cos., which revealed their beauty licensing agreement on Sept. 26, 2022.

Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing had wanted to develop perfume for the house from the start. With Les Éternels, that dream became reality.

Rousteing’s love of perfume harks back to his beginnings. “It’s like la madeleine de Proust,” the designer told WWD last year. “A funny story is that when I got appointed at Balmain in 2011, my grandma told me: ‘You remember, I was wearing Ivoire?’”

That was an iconic Balmain scent from 1979. Another reason Rousteing wanted to work on beauty was that Pierre Balmain’s story has always been intermingled with it. The fashion house began in 1945, then its first fragrance — Élysées 64-83 — came out in 1946, followed by Vent Vert in 1947.

“Mr. Pierre Balmain created incredible and iconic fragrances at the time,” said Rousteing, who explained that he himself was always trying to reinforce the house’s DNA through his own lens. Beauty was the last facet of Balmain’s legacy Rouesting hadn’t yet touched.

The designer said Guillaume Jesel, who oversees Balmain Beauty as president and chief executive officer, Tom Ford and couture brands at the Estée Lauder Cos., and the “group understood clearly the vision of the house. We wanted to bring the luxury and the quality in this journey.” 

They also collectively wished to break boundaries, create a love for diversity through beauty and express Rousteing’s connection to pop culture.

In their first meeting, they sifted through boxes of Balmain archives, including past fragrances, documents and related books. Rousteing was struck by a lot — Ivoire’s ultra-Parisian campaigns and how the scent signified Pierre Balmain’s new French style, for instance.

Élysées 64-83’s name referenced the Balmain maison’s phone number. Some of that fragrance bottle’s elements were kept and others modernized with Rousteing’s vision for Les Éternels.

He fell in love with Ébène, meaning Ebony, a Balmain perfume from 1983, too. Vent Vert, or Green Wind, struck a chord as symbolizing the spirit post-World War II. Pioneering, it was conceived by a female perfumer, Germaine Cellier.

Rousteing and Lauder wanted to begin with luxury fragrance, almost like couture. Coming out with a line of perfumes tapped into the fast-growing luxury perfume segment, within which people often buy a collection or multiple scents.

Rousteing went back to school to hone his olfactive skills and know-how.

The first eight genderless fragrances of the collection came out in late August 2024. Some, including Bronze and Rouge, were completely new creations, while the remainder were historical concepts, such as the reimagined Ivoire and Ébène scents.

“The response has been staggering in terms of the love that we feel for the brand,” Wolfe said. “We’ve been able to secure flagships and very top retailers, which have been critical to us establishing equity.”

She noted also “the love that we see from the consumers and from the press.” When Les Éternels was introduced, it garnered more than 30 billion social media impressions. WWD Beauty Inc last year named it Launch of the Year.

In March, Blanc Galaxie, a citrus fragrance, was added to the collection and today ranks third in the Balmain Beauty portfolio. And on Aug. 1, the brand released Cuir Élysées, the brand’s first fruity leather scent.

Rouge and Carbone are the bestsellers today, generating more than half of the Balmain Beauty business. Balmain executives would not discuss projections, but industry sources expect the activity will generate $70 million in retail sales during calendar year 2026.

Meanwhile, Les Éternels keeps growing in various directions. 

“We want to emulate the standard that Balmain Paris has set for us, really being a brand for everybody, for all beauties,” Wolfe said. So Balmain Beauty created eaux de toilette for Carbone, Rouge, Blanc Galaxie and Bleu Infini.

“That will make these a fresher expression, a price point that’s very attractive for the younger consumer, allowing us to expand a bit distribution,” Wolfe said of the fragrances, which are to retail for $160 per 50-ml. bottle. The 125-ml. flacon will be priced at $190.

The edts’ launch in Balmain’s iconic lozenge-shaped glass bottles will take place in September in the Europe, Middle East and Africa zone and the U.K. In October, they will be introduced in the U.S., Les Éternels’ number-one market.

The eaux de parfums are currently sold in Balmain boutiques, plus on the brand’s website in the U.S. and EMEA. Select retailers there and in the U.K. stock the scent, too. More doors will be added this fall, as well as new geographies, such as the Balkans and the Baltics, and in Israel. 

Balmain Beauty looks to expand into other channels that target some of the younger Gen Z consumers. Travel retail is one of those, slated for fiscal year 2026.

“We will be launching these edts as we expand,” Wolfe said.

Some Les Éternels bestsellers will stretch into the home category, around the holiday season. “I can’t speak specifically to the category yet,” Wolfe said. “Then, we will have a big bet coming later on this fiscal year.”

When asked if Balmain would venture into makeup, as was teased on the runway of the fashion brand’s spring 2025 fashion catwalk display, which opened with a minidress spangled with images of a ruby-red mouth and fingernails, Wolfe said couture fashion fragrance is a great way for beauty companies to help capture consumer desire and sentiment. 

Balmain Beauty is relatively new since its relaunch. “So we have a lot more work to do to establish our dominance in fragrance,” Wolfe said. 

Rousteing is involved in each step of the perfumes’ development.

“He has been really instrumental in helping us to draw the connection between what’s happening in fashion to how that translates into beauty and into fragrance,” Wolfe said. “In helping us to bring that to life.”

Of Les Éternals, Rousteing said at the time of launch: “I feel like it’s not going to be a new chapter only for Balmain, but it’s going to be a new book, with beauty.”