THE FUTURE OF LUXURY IN AN INCREDIBLE FRAGRANCE
- Bella Star
- 21 hours ago
- 3 min read
After seeing her luxury fragrance brand stall following the collapse of Barneys New York and the pandemic, founder Phuong Dang is returning with a business model she believes reflects the future of luxury.
When luxury retailer Barneys New York filed for bankruptcy in 2019, it sent shockwaves through the premium fashion and beauty industry.
For Australian entrepreneur and artist Phuong Dang, it also brought an abrupt halt to the international growth of the fragrance house she had spent years building.
Now, after stepping away from the business, Dang is preparing to relaunch her luxury perfume brand with a strategy she says goes beyond fragrance, focusing instead on ritual, emotional well-being, and personal performance.
Rather than positioning perfume as a fashion accessory or status symbol, Dang believes consumers are increasingly seeking products that play a more meaningful role in their daily lives.
"I used to think I was creating beautiful perfumes," she said.
"Today I understand I'm creating something much bigger. Beauty that doesn't simply adorn us. Beauty that reminds us who we are."
Barneys New York launch opened global doors
Dang's first fragrance collection debuted exclusively at Barneys New York in 2016 before expanding into luxury retailers across Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Working alongside renowned master perfumers Bertrand Duchaufour and Mark Buxton, the brand developed a following among collectors and luxury consumers seeking niche fragrances.
But the combination of Barneys' collapse and the COVID-19 pandemic forced Dang to reassess the business's future.
Instead of immediately rebuilding, she returned to Australia and spent several years studying emotional regulation, neuroscience and high-performance psychology while working with founders, executives and business leaders.
She says those experiences reshaped both her thinking and the direction of the company.
"The most successful people I met weren't looking for another luxury product," she said.
"They were looking for clarity, freedom, presence and calm under pressure."
Luxury fragrance becomes part of a broader strategy
The relaunched business centres on what Dang calls The Eight States of Freedom, a collection of fragrances designed around emotional states rather than traditional fragrance categories.
The concept is intended to position perfume as part of a daily ritual, with each fragrance linked to a mindset people may wish to cultivate before important moments, whether leading a business, making significant decisions or performing under pressure.
Dang believes the approach reflects a broader shift within the luxury sector.
"Luxury has always helped us express who we are," she said.
"I believe the future of luxury will help us return to the person we are capable of being."
Global expansion back on the agenda
The business is now preparing for its next phase of international growth through digital channels, strategic partnerships and collaborations spanning hospitality, design, art and elite sport.
While fragrance remains the company's foundation, Dang says the long-term ambition is to build a broader luxury house rather than a standalone perfume label.
"We're not building another perfume company," she said.
"We're building a luxury house with a purpose that happens to express itself through fragrance."
For Dang, the relaunch represents less of a comeback than a reset.
After navigating the collapse of a major retail partner and a global pandemic, she is betting that the next generation of luxury consumers will value meaning and ritual as highly as craftsmanship and exclusivity.
Whether that vision resonates globally remains to be seen, but her return highlights a broader question facing luxury brands: in an increasingly crowded market, is product alone enough, or is the future of luxury about selling an experience, an identity and a way of living?
