Can beauty companies escape the financial fallout from the conflict in the Middle East? Interparfums has yet to find a way around it.
Interparfums co-founder and CEO Jean Madar said the fragrance licensing company, which he has led since 1997, is currently relying on strength in other markets to cushion the impact of the war in what had, until recently, been one of the beauty industry’s fastest-growing regions.
“We have seen tremendous pressure in the Middle East,” Madar told BeautyMatter. “I would say that sales for our luxury brands are maybe down 80%, and sales at some of our lifestyle brands are down 40%.”
Interparfums’ luxury portfolio spans brands such as Jimmy Choo and Montblanc, while its lifestyle division includes Guess, Abercrombie & Fitch, and DKNY. After a normalization year in 2026, the company is preparing several new “blockbuster” launches over the coming year.
The New York- and Paris-listed beauty company said the conflict in the Middle East, which accounts for 7% of its sales, could affect its 2026 earnings guidance if the war drags on, affecting both its travel retail operations and its regional business in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Madar described Dubai Duty Free as a “VIP account” for Interparfums and said that while Saudi Arabia has been less affected than the United Arab Emirates, the company’s business in the region has largely evaporated.
In November last year, Interparfums issued what Madar described as a “conservative” outlook, guiding for full-year revenue of $1.48 billion, up from $1.47 billion a year earlier, while forecasting earnings per share of $4.85 compared with $5.12 in 2025. Last month, the company reported a 2% increase in sales and profitability.
“We were able to show some good numbers in the first quarter thanks to the US, but if the war continues, it could have an impact of 1% on our sales,” Madar said. “That doesn’t mean that our sales will go down 1% though, as we can offset this one percent somewhere else, maybe in the US, and also in Europe.”
Beyond geopolitical tensions, fragrance companies are grappling with the rapid rise of the dupes market, which is becoming increasingly sophisticated and attracting fresh capital from private equity firms such as American Pacific Group, which recently made a strategic investment in New York–based fragrance dupe company Dossier.
One way Interparfums is responding to the shift is by increasing its marketing and advertising spending.
“Dupe companies don’t spend money on marketing, so there’s no brand,” Madar said, pointing to the advantage established fragrance companies still have over dupes.
Regarding whether Interparfums could join French competitor L'Oréal in its legal fight against dupe fragrance companies, Madar said the company was considering it. However, he added that the issue would require broader support from across the beauty industry.
“Fragrance houses also need to be part of this conversation, as some of them sell both the original scent and the dupe, which creates a conflict,” he said. “Dupes aren’t new and have been around for decades, but what’s changed is the quality.”
Middle Eastern dupe houses such as Lattafa and Armaf are among the best-known examples of companies bringing what the industry considers “elevated dupes” to the market. The brands have built large followings on social media, frequently rank among the best-selling fragrances on Amazon, collaborate heavily with content creators on TikTok, and can also be found on TikTok Shop. Lattafa has amassed more than 1.5 million followers across Instagram and TikTok, while Armaf has around 1.5 million followers on Instagram alone.
Another major fragrance player navigating pressure from the dupe market is Coty, which has been rumored in recent weeks to be in talks with Interparfums over the potential sale of its Hugo Boss and Burberry licenses.
Coty’s Executive Chairman and interim CEO, Markus Strobel, who replaced Sue Nabi earlier this year following her five-year tenure, denied the report during the company’s latest earnings call.
“Burberry and Hugo Boss, our biggest brands, are our global brands, and we love them, and we [will] continue to strongly build them in the future,” Strobel told analysts.
Madar declined to comment on any potential discussions of acquiring beauty licenses with Coty or any other company. He did expand on the two new 20-year licenses Interparfums secured for David Beckham and Nautica after receiving a call from Authentic Brands Group (ABG), with the agreements set to take effect in 2028 and 2030, respectively.
The new David Beckham partnership comes as Beckham’s brand owner, DB Ventures, and Nautica are suing Coty over alleged licensing breaches tied to the fragrance business. DB Ventures, which is seeking at least $41 million in damages, alleged that Coty mismanaged the David Beckham fragrance line by allowing products to be sold in very low-priced distribution channels, such as gas stations.
“ABG is the owner of these two brands, and ABG contacted us and asked if we were interested in becoming the new licensee after the licenses with Coty expire,” Madar said. “We think there is a lot of potential for David Beckham because, under Coty, it was treated as an entry-level price point in drugstores.”
Interparfums is working toward elevating the David Beckham fragrance line through deeper involvement from its namesake celebrity and former soccer star across every stage of fragrance development, including the bottle, packaging, scent, distribution, and advertising campaigns, with a dedicated marketing team already focused on the brand.
“He was not as involved as he could be,” Madar said. “Today, if you are a celebrity and your name is on the product, customers are looking for authenticity, and it means the celebrity should be involved in the product.”
At the same time, the company is looking to raise prices for future launches while shifting the brand toward more selective distribution.
Interparfums also believes it can reposition Nautica more aggressively within the fragrance market after years of underexposure.
“We think it’s a sleeping brand that we can rejuvenate and put new energy into,” Madar said.
The company's latest licensing deals came as the beauty industry braced for what could have been a landmark combination between Estée Lauder and Puig—a transaction that ultimately fell apart.
"We'll survive, but what this [potential merger] means is that if you have a brand and want to launch a fragrance, you have fewer choices," Madar said before the companies confirmed they had abandoned the deal. "You have L'Oréal, Coty, Interparfums, and then you could have Estée Lauder and Puig together. There aren't many players left."
As consolidation reshapes the beauty industry, including L'Oréal's recent $4.65 billion acquisition of Kering Beauté, Interparfums may eventually face pressure to rethink the licensing-focused business model that has underpinned its growth for decades.
Asked whether Interparfums could eventually pivot toward acquiring brands instead of primarily relying on licenses, as Puig has done in recent years, Madar’s answer was blunt:
“Absolutely.”