PARIS — LVMH Luxury Ventures Fund I has taken a minority stake in buzzy French niche fragrance brand BDK Parfums.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The investment by LLV marks the first time BDK has opened up to external investors and comes at a time when perfume is the beauty industry’s fastest-growing product category. Within that, niche fragrances lead the charge.
“The idea of this minority stake was to be able to develop the brand,” said David Benedek, founder and chief executive officer of BDK Parfums. That includes international and retail expansion, as well as new products with a continuing to focus on creativity, innovation and sustainably growing the team in Paris.
He began by talking to Joël Palix, founder of boutique consultancy Palix Unlimited, who became an adviser.
Benedek said he explained to Palix: “I need to find good people who will understand the DNA and aim of the brand, who will be able to be part of the adventure without thinking too much about financials, but more about brand-building.
“It was very important to keep the singularity of the brand with people who know and understand luxury and brand equity,” Benedek said.
The entpreneur explained he had a good connection with Julie Bercovy, CEO of LVMH Luxury Ventures Advisors, or LLVA, which identifies minority investment opportunities on behalf of LLV and its management company.
“She understood the idea of BDK Parfums being inspired by the tradition of French perfumery, but trying to take this heritage and [retranscribe it] in a contemporary urban dimension,” Benedek said. “She was aligned with that idea. I told her that for me, contemporary perfume was not only about raw materials or emotions. It was really the bridge between emotions and raw materials.”
That is channeled into two main lines, Collection Parisienne and Collection Matières.
“The identity of the brand was very natural to her,” Benedek said. He also met with Alessandro Magnani, a partner at LLVA, among others at the fund.
“They were focused on what makes the brand beautiful,” Benedek said. “I really appreciate that approach. I believe that they will let me keep leading the creative side of the brand, being very free in my choices of the perfumers with whom I work, with the perfume formula, with the cost of goods.”
Benedek said that, for him, raising money is about continuing to build a real adventure.
“This is exactly how I seem my project — my brand,” he said. “I want it to be very joyful, passionate and to please our customer. We are aligned with that.”
Impadia from BDK Parfums.
Courtesy of BDK Parfums
Benedek was also interested that LLV had invested in fashion brands, which include Our Legacy, Gabriela Hearst, Aimé Leon Dore and Molli, as well as in beauty brand Officine Universelle Buly, which LVMH ultimately acquired.
“They are looking for brands with a lot of personality, with singularity, and I see BDK like that,” Benedek said, adding LLV invests in hospitality, too. “So it’s all about customer experience, too. I like that also.”
In a statement, Bercovy said: “We are delighted to support BDK Parfums, whose high-quality compositions we hold in high regard, in its new phase of development, particularly internationally.
We are confident that the brand, led by David, will continue to maintain its unique know-how and expertise, and continue to create distinctive new fragrances, that stir powerful emotions.”
BDK has been making big waves in the fragrance firmament and growing at a rapid clip. Its sales are up 45 percent versus 2024.
The news of LVMH investing in the brand comes as niche perfumes remain in investor’s scopes. As part of the sale of Kering Beauty, L’Oréal is acquiring The House of Creed, another niche brand.
BDK, which turns 10 in June, has deep roots, stemming from Benedek’s passion for perfume, which was always a part of his life thanks to his family’s heritage. Benedek’s grandparents opened their perfume shop in Paris across from the Louvre in 1959. He became very close to his grandmother, who was highly involved in that business.
Benedek’s parents then took over and developed the perfumery. He admired and loved the perfume houses. He studied economics and business, then got a master’s degree at the Institut Français de la Mode in 2012.
There, he took a perfumery class, during which Benedek realized people were finally ready to migrate toward more confidential and niche perfume brands. So he decided to begin building his own fragrance house after finishing school.
Benedek opted for the moniker BDK to reflect consonants in his name, but also to nod to the notion of a contemporary olfactory library. The idea behind BDK was to develop a contemporary, urban perfume studio.
The starting point is Paris, but the brand opens to the world.
David Benedek
Courtesy of BDK Parfums
Each BDK fragrance collection has the same bottle, yet with a twist. Flacons with a black cap denote the Collection Parisienne, which is about experiences and feelings related to the French capital. Each scent in the Collection Matières, with a gold cap, centers on one raw olfactive material. Unexpected notes are essential.
A blue-labeled fragrance was exclusive to Harrods for six months and is part of the Collection Exclusive. There is a line called Collection Azur, which nods to Benedek’s love of the South of France and Mediterranean Sea, with fresher fragrances and a salty touch.
Altogether, BDK has 23 genderless perfumes and five hair fragrances, plus five candles and three scented laundry care products. Body lotion and shower gel in the scents of some of BDK’s bestsellers — Gris Charnel, Rouge Smoking, Pas Ce Soir and Bouquet de Hongrie — will come out in early December.
To help celebrate its 10th anniversary, the brand will launch a new collection based on the connection Benedek maintains between the fashion and fragrance worlds.
Each BDK product is made in France, with prices ranging from 50 euros to 270 euros.
The brand’s first flagship debuted on Paris’ Rue Saint-Honoré in January 2024. Part of BDK’s strategy is to open more locations step-by-step, starting in 2026, with a concentration on in-store experience.
“To build a community around the brand, a retail environment, retail flagships are very important,” Benedek said.
A new flagship, in Dubai, is expected to debut first.
“I want the retail not to be seen as a boutique, but as a place where you can experience the brand,” Benedek said.
BDK is sold in around 45 countries. France is its largest market, followed by the U.S. and Germany. The Middle East is key, as well, while the United Kingdom is growing swiftly. The brand was just launched in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Japan and Korea are important for us,” Benedek said.
BDK expects to invest in its digital platform, which today generates about 10 percent of its business. But that’s expected to grow.
Benedek works closely with suppliers and top perfumers, including Dominique Ropion, Anne Flipo, Jordi Fernandez, Alexandra Carlin and Mathilde Bijaoui.
BDK fragrances have garnered numerous awards, including Prix des Parfums de Niche from the Fragrance Foundation France for Velvet Tonka in 2022 and Perfume Extraordinaire of the Year for Gris Charnel Extract from the Fragrance Foundation U.S.A. in 2023.
