Todd Oldham by Todd Oldham c1995

Todd Oldham by Todd Oldham: launched in March 1995 in association with Parlux Fragrances. The fragrance was composed by the perfumers at Florasynth.

 
The fragrance was launched in Oldham's Wooster Street boutique on March 1, 1996. Then in late March of 1995 at 27 doors of Neiman Marcus department stores then rolled out to 62 Nordstrom doors along with Henri Bendel. The plan was to have the scent stocked in around 600 doors by September 1995. The fragrance was introduced to 20 to 25 international markets, primarily in Europe and Central America starting in 1996.

Oldham told WWD that "having a free 20 minutes is a luxury to me, but I'm very psyched to be doing this. Fragrance is the only thing I do that I actually get to enjoy myself."

Readers may remember seeing the designer on MTV's show, House of Style, along with the always beautiful Cindy Crawford. For his fragrance launch, the designer's marketing division chose to go with the youth oriented advertising campaigns, such as the magazine Paper, plus the higher fashion tomes of Harper's Bazaar, Elle, W. and Vogue. In all, the ad campaign cost around $2.2 million dollars and was set to run until December 1995. 

Parlux projected sales of the Oldham fragrance to be abot $5 million at the wholesale level for the year of 1995. Confident in his licensing arrangement, Oldham told WWD that, "I liked the coziness of Parlux. And they also can give me the luxury of time. They're taking it slow and casual, and that's what I'm all about." 

Oldham was intent on his fragrance introduction to be a lasting success. However, this was not to be.

Fragrance Composition:

 

So what does it smell like? it is classified as an oriental fragrance for women. 

• Top notes: bergamot, cucumber, kiwi, mandarin orange and peach
• Middle notes: jasmine, cinnamon, rose and lilac
• Base notes: cedar, incense, musk, sandalwood, patchouli, amber and benzoin

Oldham said that he also lent his hand to the creation of the scent, which he said was inspired by his love for Yves Saint Laurent's Opium and the exquisite creations by Jean Laporte of L'Artisan Parfumeur and Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier fame. "I wanted a paradox, which is what we represent, right now we mean something to the extravagant consumer, but also to the kids. So we're hard to define," he said to WWD. "The fragrance is like that because it has the vegetable notes, like cucumber, so it starts out crisp. But then it dries down to incense and sandalwood. I was intrigued by the idea of a linear fragrance - it really changes over time," he added.

Todd Oldham Parfum - Todd Oldham's signature fragrance mysteriously comes alive, capturing the wearer with its intense hypnotic appeal. The Eau de Parfum miniature originally retailed for $15.00.

Bottle:

The Oldham signature fragrance is housed inside of a cut crystal bottle with a crown as the stopper. The designed claimed he himself came up with the bottle design. In an interview with WWD, Oldham said "The bottles are based on a classic diamond cut. The crown doesn't really mean anything - it's just been my logo for years. I also thought it was important not to have my name on it. Why would a woman want to keep seeing my name on her bureau?"

The Todd Oldham fragrance line was composed of:

• 1 oz Parfum (retailed for $250)
• 4.2 oz Eau de Parfum Spray (retailed for $75)
• 2.5 oz Eau de Parfum Spray (retailed for $50)
• 1 oz Eau de Parfum Spray (retailed for $29)
• 4.2 oz Eau de Parfum Splash (retailed for $72.50)
• 2.5 oz Eau de Parfum Splash (retailed for $47.50)
• 67 oz Body Cream (retailed for $60)

Fate of the Fragrance:

Discontinued, date unknown.

CLICK HERE TO FIND TODD OLDHAM PERFUME