Very Great cofounders Josh Williams and Eric Prum, alongside creative director Andy Anderson, are entering beauty with Haeze, a fragrance brand codeveloped with Target and centered on layering and personalization.
Launching Nov. 1 exclusively at Target stores nationwide and target.com, Haeze is Very Great’s first beauty brand. Founded in 2016, the New York-based brand incubator is behind W&P, Wild One and Courant, spanning kitchenware, pet accessories and tech products. Anderson, who is based in Los Angeles, worked with the New York-based founders to develop Haeze over 18 months, with fragrances created in partnership with Swiss fragrance house Givaudan.
The brand challenges the traditional concept of a signature scent, instead encouraging consumers to build a fragrance wardrobe that reflects different facets of their identity, Anderson said.
“The fragrance industry, in our experience in the past, has loved to sell you on the idea of pick your signature scent, singular, and Haeze is asking why? Why do you have to pick just a single version of yourself?” Anderson said.
The debut collection includes five fragrances across different scent categories: & Only This, an amber with clove bud, iris and ambroxan; Petal Pusher, a floral blending pink pepper, bergamot and cashmere wood; SPF 1987, a gourmand with banana leaf, sea salt and coconut; Ember Noir, a woody scent featuring patchouli, cedar and vanilla, and Down Pour, a fresh aquatic with rainwater, neroli and vetiver.
Each fragrance is available as a $49 eau de parfum; a $25 body, hair and linen mist; a $20 solid fragrance that doubles as a bag charm, and a $10 scented candle. A $20 discovery set rounds out the assortment. The formulations are vegan and cruelty-free.
“We invested several million dollars to launch Haeze the right way, in the highest-quality product, multiple formats and best-in-class content and marketing,” notes the brand.
Anderson also led the packaging design, which features custom geometric bottles with cube-shaped bases, spherical caps and concentric rings intended to evoke planetary orbits and rippling water.
“I view each of these scents as their own world within a bottle that create the Haeze universe together,” Anderson said.
Target’s involvement extends beyond distribution, with the retailer codeveloping both the brand and product collection.
“Our guests want to explore fragrances in ways that feel personal, playful and entirely their own,” said Amanda Nusz, senior vice president of essentials and beauty merchandising at Target, in a statement to WWD.
Williams, who has worked with Target across various ventures for roughly a decade, said the retailer’s scale allows Haeze to invest in fragrance formulations and custom packaging while maintaining accessible pricing.
“They’re bringing to the table distribution that can sustain those quality choices,” Williams said.
The brand is primarily targeting Gen Z and younger Millennials, although the founders see opportunities to reach a broader demographic.
Williams confirmed plans to expand Haeze beyond traditional beauty formats over the next 12 to 18 months, with future developments informed by consumer response to the initial collection.
The launch will be supported by a digital campaign featuring five cinematic short films centered on the individual fragrances, alongside content across social media and Target’s platforms.
“We’re launching and building this brand as a true brand universe that we need to create from zero to 100,” Williams said.