EXCLUSIVE: Bella Hadid Gives Celebrity Fragrances the Supermodel Twist With ‘?rebella
After years of fronting fashion and beauty campaigns, Bella Hadid is taking a stab at brand building.
The model is unveiling ‘?rebella (pronounced “aura-bella”), a fragrance brand starting with a trio of fragrances in alcohol-free, biphase formulas. They are priced at $35, $72 and $100 for 10-, 50- and 100-ml, respectively. They launch on the brand’s website on Thursday, followed by Ulta Beauty’s website on May 10 and then in more than 1,200 Ulta doors in the U.S. on May 12.
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In an exclusive interview with WWD, Hadid said the idea for the brand came to her after years of blending essential oils.
“My way into fragrance was being on my farm with our lavender plants, and we have a cute health food store down the street from my house there,” she said. “They have the craziest variety of essential oils, and I’m obsessed with putting things together that you wouldn’t normally smell.”
Just as she’s able to home in on her olfactory preferences, she knew that any scent she made would have to eschew alcohol. “I’ve always had an aversion to alcohol in scents,” she said. “‘?rebella is the first nonalcoholic biphase perfume. I wanted to bring something to market that people hadn’t seen before, and I had been making my essential oils for myself for so long.”
Around five years ago, she started making brand decks and visualizing the brand’s identity. That culminated in her bringing on brand president Fabrice Gibert-Darras, an industry veteran, and coming up with three fragrances developed by Firmenich and Robertet. Industry sources think the brand could hit $50 million in retail sales for its first year.
Salted Muse has notes of sea salt, pink pepper, an olive tree accord, lavender and woods of crisp amber; Window2Soul features rose, jasmine, fresh lemon and tonka bean; Blooming Fire combines Tahitian monoi flower with patchouli and bergamot.
One phase in the formula is comprised of the brand’s proprietary ‘?relixir, a blend of snow mushroom as well as almond, olive, jojoba, shea and camellia oils for skin hydration. The other phase houses essential oils and the fragrance’s raw materials.
“I wanted you to put something on your skin that would have multiple purposes, and in today’s day and age and so many products, I know how hard people work for their money. I didn’t want to just put something on the market that was just a money grab,” Hadid said. “I wanted people to use it and appreciate it every day, and feel like their day is better because of it. And that’s why I went with the biphase formula with moisturizing effects.”
The formulas were no easy feat and required some trial and error. “She has a concept [that] is very different, very out there. It’s a lot of iteration, it’s a lot of trial, it’s a lot of fails that happen before you arrive at a product you want to give to people,” Gibert-Darras said. “I’ve done that a lot, but I’ve never had a project this innovative and Bella never gave up. Since the beginning, she knew exactly what the product and the brand and the visuals should be.”
‘?rebella will also release a campaign lensed by Elizaveta Porodina.
“The first meeting was amazing and the result is launching a new brand and very disruptive collection all-door in Ulta. It’s a massive launch, and they’re supporting it,” Gibert-Darras said. “They know the guest, and we’re going to be presented in front of people that can actually fall in love with what we have.”
Prestige fragrances are still on the upswing. The category grew 12 percent in 2023, as reported by Circana. That momentum has carried over to Ulta, where “fragrance has been a really stellar category.”
“We’re super pleased with how the assortment has been performing and we’ve continued to lean in across all segments of the category,” said Monica Arnaudo, Ulta’s chief merchandising officer.
“From body sprays, to celebrity to designer to luxury, you’re seeing things pop even more if they’re trending on social media,” Arnaudo said.
To that end, Hadid boasts more than 61 million followers on Instagram alone. “Celebrities have long involved as ambassadors and spokespeople within fragrance. But when you look at Ariana Grande, who we have been partnered with for over 10 years, the reason it works is because she’s vested in the company and involved in creating every one of the scents. Fast forward to today, and Bella is just as vested.”
As for what attracted Arnaudo to the brand, it went beyond Hadid’s star status. “Bella is this sensitive, beautiful person and has this sense of what fragrance can bring to you,” she said. “She was very focused on ensuring that the fragrance was also gentle and clean.”
Ulta is merchandising the brand at the front of the store, as well as activations on Ulta’s website and app. “The expression of the brand is pretty incredible,” Arnaudo said. “We will also have it permanently in our fragrance area on a beautiful endcap.”
The brand also meets all of Ulta’s Conscious Beauty pillars. The formulas are dermatologist-tested, Leaping Bunny and PETA vegan-certified, and adheres to European Union cosmetics regulations, which count a no-list of more than 1,300 ingredients.
Launching simultaneously with the brand is the Alchemy Foundation, which will be giving at least 1 percent of net sales to a host of charities. At launch, those include PATH International and the Lower East Side Girls Club.
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