Dossier Challenges Luxury Brands with New Original Fragrances

Dupes are big business. On TikTok and Reddit, beauty fans share tips for affordable alternatives to pricey products like Maison Francis Kurkdjian Rouge Baccarat 540 ($325) or scarce ones like Sol de Janiero’s $34 body mists.

While dupe mania spans all beauty categories, it’s particularly strong in fragrance. Viral premium perfumes often retail for triple digits, making them unaffordable for many. Consequently, dupe-specific brands are emerging to provide lower-priced versions of popular scents. These brands, unlike counterfeiters, create “smell-a-like” alternatives to luxury scents without pretending to be the original.

New York-based Dossier, launched in 2019, sells over 90 dupes of best-selling scents like Le Labo Santal 33, YSL Black Opium, and Chanel No.5 for as little as $29. Its founder and CEO, Sergio Tache, and vice president, Ines Guien, say their brand democratizes the fragrance industry.

Now, Dossier is expanding to include original perfumes, not modeled on any existing fragrances, called “originals” (the dupes are “impressions”). “If you had asked me when we launched if we would create [original scents], I would have said ‘probably not’,” said Tache. But now, “we really want to put an emphasis on our in-house perfume that we develop from scratch with our very own ideas.”

Dossier isn’t alone. Alt Fragrances, another US-based line, offers original scents but is better known for “Executive” (inspired by Creed’s Aventus) and “Farouche” (inspired by Dior Sauvage, the world’s best-selling scent). Zara also offers scents ranked by comparison sites like Dupe Shop for their likeness to luxury perfumes, alongside more original creations.

Dossier introduced its first original scents in 2023 and now offers 13, with eight more launching before the end of the year. To generate hype, new originals will be launched on “Dossier drop day” a few times a month.

However, few dupe brands have transitioned successfully to originals. E.l.f Beauty, known for affordable editions of trending cosmetics, continues to offer low-cost, viral products. Others, like the UK’s Makeup Revolution, remain largely seen as dupe-only.

In fragrance, no brand has made the transition yet. But Tache believes there’s a growing consumer base tired of high prices. “I knew that margins in beauty tend to be high, but perfume really takes the cake,” he said.

Changing Landscapes

Luxury brands are fortifying against competitors. Historically indifferent to dupe brands, luxury companies assert that these imitations don’t dilute their customer base. Legal recourse is limited, as trademarks for fragrances are hard to obtain.

Without legal precedent, other methods deter copycats. Some brands patent specific molecules. Symrise, a German ingredients company, invested in technology to prevent scents from being reverse-engineered. Others refuse to disclose perfume notes, using this as a marketing tactic, like Glossier’s You perfume.

Building Desire

To succeed, brands must convince perfume lovers of their high quality. “Dupes are our bread and butter, but we also want to show our own creativity,” said Tache. In June, Dossier hosted a pop-up event in New York City to promote its original scents, selling out many best-sellers with two-hour wait times.

Education is key. In October, Dossier will launch “Free The Musk,” a scent to ignite conversation about patented ingredients. “We want to show people a musk doesn’t have to be patented to be beautiful and sensual,” said Guien.

Adding unique scents helps Dossier build a lasting presence. While Tache declined to specify if margins are greater on impressions or originals, he emphasized affordability. “The North Star is to create perfumes that are affordable for the 99 percent,” he said. “But we want to be more than that, offering diversity to our customers is really important to us.”