Dolly Parton on Fragrance, Getting Into Beauty
Two years after signing a licensing deal with IMG, multihyphenate entertainer and philanthropist Dolly Parton is making her first plays in beauty.
In her first bid for the beauty consumer, Parton — who has had a busy year, from funding coronavirus vaccine research to the opening of Dollywood, her theme park in Tennessee — is introducing Dolly — Scent From Above, her first fragrance line in partnership with Scent Beauty.
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The fragrance line includes two eau de parfums, which will launch on HSN on July 28; a body cream; an eau de toilette, and a body mist in Walmart, Walgreens, Scent Beauty’s website and an Instagram store. Prices range from $40 to $65; industry sources think the range will surpass $40 million in sales during its first year at retail.
Fragrance made perfect sense for her first beauty product, Parton told WWD, given her own relationship with scent. “When I signed my branding deal with IMG, I thought, ‘I’m going to start with perfume.’ Everybody has always told me how good I smell,” Parton said. “I felt like a mad scientist trying to find the right combination, but we did and it took us about two years. I’m going to be doing wigs and accessories and makeup.”
Scent Beauty’s licensing deal with Parton was a coup for the company, which is optimistic about the line’s performance — and its tailored approach to distribution. “Dolly Parton is a cultural icon that’s resonating with Americans and people all over the world — she’s cross-generational,” said Steve Mormoris, chief executive officer of Scent Beauty. “Given this broad appeal and icon status, we decided to not pursue any one channel, but to have a broad-base distribution strategy from luxury channels to mass.”
HSN shared Mormoris’ enthusiasm. “As an admired musical icon and adored philanthropist with her endless contributions spanning over several decades, we are excited to add Dolly’s fragrance to our portfolio and share her inspirational story with our customers,” Bridget Love, general merchandising manager, vice president of beauty merchandising, QVC and HSN, said in an email.
Mormoris added that Scent is eyeing other categories, such as hair mists and home fragrances, for expansion, and will be sold internationally as well.
Parton has more products in mind, too. “I’m going to be doing wigs, and accessories and makeup,” she said. “I’m going to hopefully create a scent for the men in my life, too. Although Dolly — Scent from Above smells so good, I think the boys will want to wear it.”
Although Parton and Scent Beauty are casting a wide net with the distribution strategy, Parton is still making the process her own. “I actually wrote a song for it, called Sent From Above,” Parton said. “I don’t think that Liz Taylor ever wrote songs [for her perfume].”
“I think I’ll have a fun time promoting it and enjoy getting out there and talking about it,” Parton continued. “I really want to see how people respond to it.”
She has no plans to slow down, either in or out of beauty. “I’m working on a lot of new music and some fun, exciting things at the end of the year,” she said. “I’m working on different projects, but right now I’m occupied with hawking my goods.”
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