The ten most copied fragrances

Some fragrances are admired. A few are admired so much that a whole shelf of other bottles exists only to smell like them. We count, for every fragrance we cover, how many alternatives are built on its accord. These are the ten with the most.

1. 01 AventusCreed · 2010 119 alternatives
2. 02 SauvageDior · 2018 59 alternatives
3. 03 Baccarat Rouge 540Maison Francis Kurkdjian · 2015 58 alternatives
4. 04 ImaginationLouis Vuitton · 2021 57 alternatives
5. 05 Oud WoodTom Ford · 2007 55 alternatives
6. 06 Santal 33Le Labo · 2011 52 alternatives
7. 07 Lost CherryTom Ford · 2018 48 alternatives
8. 08 Green Irish TweedCreed · 1985 45 alternatives
9. 09 Ombre NomadeLouis Vuitton · 2018 44 alternatives
10. 10 Silver Mountain WaterCreed · 1995 43 alternatives

One runaway, then a pack

Creed Aventus is not so much first as in a different league: 119 alternatives, against 59 for Dior Sauvage in second place. Below that the field tightens, and everything from second to tenth sits between 43 and 59.

Between them, these ten have 580 bottles built to smell like them.

The same few names

Ten places, but not ten houses. Creed holds 3, Louis Vuitton holds 2 and Tom Ford holds 2. That is not a coincidence: a fragrance gets copied when it is loved, famous and expensive all at once, and a handful of houses are very good at making all three happen to the same bottle.

Expensive, mostly

Where we know the bottle size, these ten average $513 per 100ml at retail. That gap between the price and the pleasure is exactly the space the alternatives move into. Price matters: among fragrances rated by 8,000 or more people, those over $300 per 100ml have about 34 alternatives each, and those under $150 about 25. Love gets a fragrance copied. A high price gets it copied more.

Not all new

Most of this list is recent — but not all of it. Creed Green Irish Tweed dates from 1985, and it is still drawing imitators decades later. A good formula does not go out of date. It just gets cheaper to own.