Phlur did not start as a passion project. It started as a market gap.
Eric Korman, former president of global e-commerce for Ralph Lauren, founded Phlur in 2015 in West Hollywood. He saw an opportunity in the gap between mass-market fragrances and luxury niche houses. Phlur landed in the middle: niche prices, modern sensibilities, direct-to-consumer distribution. The playbook was pure e-commerce.
That strategy worked for a time. But niche fragrance houses live and die by storytelling, and storytelling is not Korman's skill set. In 2021, the brand was acquired by Chriselle Lim, an LA-based influencer and digital pioneer. She did not keep the playbook. She rewrote it.
Lim rebuilt Phlur around a different idea: fragrance as personal identity. The brand's scents became less about technical perfumery and more about capturing a feeling, a moment, a version of yourself. The marketing shifted too. Instead of e-commerce efficiency, Phlur leaned into community and cult following, building a tribe of loyal customers who saw the brand as an extension of their own aesthetic.
The move worked. Phlur went from a decent niche house to a genuine cult brand with a devoted following across the US, Europe, and the Middle East. That is not accident. It is Lim's background in influence and digital culture.
Now the part most fragrance houses skip. Phlur is still a small operation. The brand does not have the backing of a luxury conglomerate. That means tighter margins, slower inventory, and a smaller distribution network than a Tom Ford or a Gucci. It also means faster creative decisions and a more authentic connection between brand and customer. For some buyers, that trade-off is everything.
The scents themselves lean minimal and skin-like. Want the Phlur aesthetic without the Phlur price? Our Vanilla Bare (our take on Vanilla Skin by Phlur) and Salt Skin (our interpretation of Beach Skin by Phlur) are UK-made at 35% concentration, capturing that same stripped-back, second-skin approach. Browse the full Phlur collection for more.
