What Really Counts as a Flanker? · Brotherhood Of Scent

What Really Counts as a Flanker?

I had a great conversation yesterday at Nordstrom with a sales associate who has been in fragrance for over 20 years. When I used the word “flanker,” she stopped me and said I was using it wrong. For her, a flanker was always a short-lived seasonal or temporary release, like the summer editions that disappear after a year.

We ended up talking it through and used Bleu de Chanel as an example. To me, Bleu EDP and Bleu Parfum are clearly flankers of the original EDT. She admitted that makes sense in today’s usage, but she still hears “flanker” as something temporary because that is how the industry used the term when she started out.

The modern use: Most of us now call any new release in the same name family a flanker. Bleu de Chanel Parfum, Sauvage Elixir, and Acqua di Gio Profondo are all permanent flankers that even outlast their originals.

The older use: For many fragrance veterans, flanker still means seasonal. That is why the word can trigger different reactions depending on who you ask.

Why the confusion: The industry has shifted. What began as quick summer spinoffs became a permanent business model. Whole lines are built out of flankers now.

And here is my take. The Bleu line is the definition of flankers done right because the EDP and Parfum expand the DNA while keeping it recognizable. But Prada Luna Rossa Ocean Le Parfum feels doubtful. The name and bottle say ocean, but the scent leans warmer and sweeter, much closer to Luna Rossa Black. I like it, but it stretches the idea of what a flanker really is.

So what about you? Do you only use “flanker” for short runs, or do you count every sub-release in a line as a flanker? And which flanker do you think actually surpassed its original?

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