GENDARME

A respected fragrance marketer and leader in the industry, Topper Schroder has crafted and brought to life distinct scents and body care products including Gendarme, Grabazzi, the successful men’s fragrance Gendarme V and an exclusive women’s line, Carriere. With a loyal following that includes A-List Hollywood celebrities, Schroder’s lines of fragrances are seen in top boutique and fragrance counters all across the globe, competing and outselling other national brands.

But in 1983, Topper was merely a consumer of fragrances and found himself on a quest to find cologne he could wear with pride, but without annoying skin irritation or asthmatic reactions. After searching the department store and men’s counters everywhere without success, he decided to develop a cologne to his specifications. With no professional fragrance background, Topper became a quick study in the art and surrounded himself with expert guidance. While his fragrance mentor was able to make introductions, many at first saw Topper as someone going to a lot of trouble to satisfy a self-defined market of one.

Within a few years, Gendarme was not only a cologne but a full line of personal grooming products which today includes aftershave, skin conditioner, bath bar, shaving cream, and body shampoo. Retail word-of-mouth built a huge celebrity clientele, a national network of more than 1,000 upscale retailers, and impressive national sales through Gendarme.com.