Coty reinforces European market presence with bruno banani license renewal, Mexx licensing extension

Coty has extended its license agreement with Dutch fashion brand Mexx for more than twenty-five years and has renewed its long-term license partnership with German fashion company bruno banani for over twenty years. The partnership with Mexx includes all the brand’s fragrances and colognes, while the license renewal for bruno banani will focus on “continued expansion and premiumization of its portfolio into new categories and innovations,” as detailed in a Coty press release​.  

Coty & Mexx

Mexx was founded in 1986, and while the brand launched its first fragrance lines, Mexx MAN and Mexx Woman in 2000, the licensing partnership between Mexx and Coty did not begin until 2016. Since that time, according to market research firm Nielsen, Mexx has grown to be one of the top four fragrance brands in Germany, the Coty press release​ said.  

Most recently, the release continued, “Mexx unveiled a series of limited-edition fragrances that received widespread consumer acclaim, from the Mexx “Summer Bliss” mood boosting fragrance to the “Mexx Black & Gold” holiday fragrance.” Moving forward, “this long-term extension of our partnership will enable us to accelerate the brand’s momentum and fuel ambitious expansion plans into dynamic new markets and categories,” said Coty CEO Sue Nabi in a company press statement.  

In the same statement, Stefano Curti, Chief Brands Officer, Consumer Beauty at Coty, commented: “This agreement builds upon the significant synergies we have created with Mexx, and will enable us to continue the premiumization of the brand and its category expansion.”  

Ron Janssen, Co-founder of RNF/Mexx Group, added that “we look forward to building upon our successful partnership with Coty as we refresh our signature lines and look toward exciting new growth opportunities.”  

Coty & bruno banani  

International underwear and swimwear brand bruno banani was first introduced in 1993 and recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Today, the company exports to seventeen countries globally and is available online, in brick-and-mortar outlets, and through specialist retailers. 

Coty and bruno banani first secured a licensing partnership in 2015, and since that time, the brand has grown into “Germany’s leading fragrance brand with the iconic Man and Woman,” shared Nabi in a Coty press release. “With the introduction of further blockbuster fragrance innovations, such as Loyal Man and Magnetic Woman, as well as other highly successful body care lines,” she added, “Coty has built bruno banani into one of the leading consumer beauty brands in Germany, Benelux, and Eastern Europe.” 

Moving forward, the release detailed, through the licensing partnership, Coty and bruno banani plan to build on their initial success in the fragrance space “through their shared vision of achieving further growth in female fragrances, attracting more younger consumers and capitalizing on the significant white space opportunity of scented care over the next twenty years,” and “will also focus on consolidating [the brand’s] position with consumers in established markets.”