Sales of Kering Beauté in the first half of 2025 were €150 million, up 9 per cent year-on-year, according to the group. While Kering Beauté remains modest in scale compared with beauty heavyweights, its ambition is not to rival them in size; rather, it seeks to channel the distinct identity of its houses into a coherent expression, following the Kering Eyewear model.
The new Le Dix does not include the animal-based ingredients of the initial formula (they are no longer used in perfumery); instead, it has iris aldehyde molecules. Though there are violet leaves, just like in the original. “We are incredibly lucky to have the original formula. So we started with that and gave it a twist,” says Cornaggia.
It taps into a growing nostalgia. “For people my age, the formula evokes vintage fragrances, but all the younger people in the office love it. It’s a general trend, a return to old-style perfumery, with powdery, violet notes,” says Cornaggia. “Grandma perfumes are Gen Z’s new — and unexpected — fragrance obsession,” Glamour UK reported in June. Le Dix promises to be an example of the trend.
Other fragrances in the collection include No Comment (“echoing Balenciaga’s belief that his creations should speak for themselves”, according to the release); Getaria (named after Balenciaga’s coastal Spanish birthplace); Cristóbal (“enigmatic and understated, yet radiates gravitas, evoking the duality of Balenciaga”, also according to the release); and Incense Perfumum, whose black juice is an ode to the designer’s extensive use of the colour.
The 100ml bottle carries a €260 price tag (by comparison, the Bottega Veneta fragrance is priced at €390). There is also a Discovery Box (€320), the travel spray case (€130) as well as the bag charm (€395), competing with Labubus when it comes to bag accessories.
