:: Fragrance Foundation ::

8/10/09 – Fragrance legend inducted into the Fragrance Foundation Hall of Fame

Fragrance expert and ‘living legend’, Michael Edwards, was tonight inducted into the Fragrance Foundation Hall of Fame for his significant contribution to the Australian and international fragrance industry.

Induction into the Hall of Fame is the most prestigious award conferred by The Fragrance Foundation Australia - the industry body representing fragrance houses, retailers, magazine publishers and other fragrance-related businesses.

Over 120 industry representatives attended the cocktail event held in the heritage-listed Westpac Bank Building in Martin Place, Sydney. The special evening included two performances by classical music quartet, Accent Strings.

Michael Edwards is known internationally for his annual fragrance guide, Fragrances of the World, which this year celebrates 25 years.

What started as a small guide for retailers with just 323 fragrances has become the industry’s fragrance ‘bible’, this year classifying over 6,500 fragrances, including 800 new releases.

Edwards has classified more fragrances than anyone else in the history of perfumery. He works with every brand and perfumer to check the accuracy of his classifications and work. Today, he divides his time between Sydney, Paris and New York to keep ahead of the avalanche of new fragrances.

In his speech, President of the Fragrance Foundation, Michel-Henri Carriol, commented on the impact Edwards’ work has had across the whole fragrance industry.

“Fragrances of the World has helped retailers, industry professionals, media and fragrance lovers alike appreciate the ever-expanding world of fragrance,” said Mr Carriol.

“Michael’s fragrance wheel is instrumental to our knowledge and understanding of fragrance families.

“Whether he is consulting to retailers, running a fragrance workshop for sales consultants, or talking to the media, Michael promotes knowledge and a real passion for the industry – to everyone’s benefit,” said Mr Carriol.

Edwards’ book - Perfume Legends: French Feminine Fragrances - opened up the secret world of perfumery. For the first time, perfumers spoke of their work and the sources of their inspiration in a way only previously done by artists, architects and musicians.

In 2004, Edwards won his first Fragrance Foundation (USA) FiFi award (known as the ‘Oscars’ of the fragrance industry) for Technological Achievement for his Fragrances of the World.Info database – which has come to be known as the ‘memory’ of the industry.

In 2007, he won a second FiFi award, for an in-store adaptation of this database.

This year, his expertise is behind an online fragrance finder being developed by the Hearst Magazines group in the US that will feature on the websites of some of their leading magazines. The fragrance finder will not only help consumers find their ideal scents, it will help fragrance brands, retailers and magazines to reach and educate their customers.

Members of the Fragrance Foundation who nominated Edwards for the award had the following praise for him:

“Through his indispensable Fragrances of the World guides, Michael has not only provided sales consultants with practical sales information, but also demystified the heavily populated fragrance market for consumers.”

“Michael’s willingness to make himself available for expert commentary to the Australian beauty media, not only lends credibility and depth to fragrance journalism, but passes this valuable information on to members of the public.”
“We have seen the way he mentors young entrepreneurs developing their own fragrance brands, and with them he is endlessly generous of his time and wisdom.”
“He has bridged the gap between creative perfumer and perfume lover – a remarkable and unique achievement.”

Mr Carriol concluded that, “For the Australian fragrance industry to have access to someone with Michael’s level of expertise and enthusiasm is an immense privilege.

“Michael, we thank you - you are a fragrance phenomenon and an Australian ambassador to the world of perfumery,” said Mr Carriol.

The Hall of Fame Award is offered every two years. Past Fragrance Foundation Hall of Fame inductees include:

Trish Hale - who worked as a fragrance marketer as well as retail buyer for Grace Bros and David Jones during her 40-year career
Bernie Leser - considered a legend in the magazine world, Bernie was founder of Vogue Australia and head of Condé Nast publications internationally.

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