One way in which the independents have kept costs low is by grooming inexpensive new talent instead of signing up established stars.

ECONOMIST: Hollywood's fading charms

Even though one of the walls of the Madison Avenue store is hung with photographs of famous perfumers he's worked with the same way a restaurant or deli might display 8-by-10 autographed glossies of movie stars he counts only one man who actually possessed a supernatural sense of smell.

WSJ: On the Scent of Luxury With an Upper East Side Perfumer