Annette Green

Annette Green, who spent more than four decades turning The Fragrance Foundation from a struggling trade group into the organizing force behind the American perfume industry, died on October 8, 2026, at the age of 102. News of her death was confirmed by the Fragrance Foundation and reported by trade outlets including WWD, which credited her with transforming the organization into an engine of growth for the fragrance industry.

Green's connection to perfume began almost at birth. Her mother, Mollie Green, was working in the perfume department of Wanamaker's department store in Philadelphia when she went into labor. She later studied journalism at New York University and the New School, and her first job was at the trade publication American Druggist, where she wrote a column aimed at teenage girls before moving into public relations.

In 1961, Green took over The Fragrance Foundation on a pro bono basis. At the time she was a public relations executive who had covered the foundation as a young journalist in the 1950s, and the organization was struggling to stay alive. Over the next four decades, she rebuilt its membership, recruiting executives from major fragrance houses, and reshaped how Americans thought about perfume. She later recalled that the shift of women into the workforce was a turning point, prompting her to promote the idea of a wardrobe of fragrances for different occasions rather than a single scent reserved for special nights out. By the time she retired in 2002, the foundation she had rescued had become a central pillar of a multi billion dollar industry.

Her influence extended well beyond the foundation's offices. In 1973 she established the FiFi Awards, which became known as the Oscars of the fragrance world. She built the first American fragrance museum collection, encompassing hundreds of perfume bottles dating back to the eighteenth century, later housed at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She was also instrumental in creating the undergraduate and graduate programs in cosmetics and fragrance marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, work that trained generations of industry professionals. In 2018, at age 94, she published a memoir, "Spritzing to Success," chronicling the industry's evolution from the 1950s onward.

Tributes followed quickly from the industry she had shaped. Linda Levy, president of the Fragrance Foundation, said that Green had become an icon by championing fragrance with passion and dedication, weaving it into the cultural fabric and daily ritual of the country. Lori Singer, president of Parlux, called her a pioneer and an industry legend whose vision and dedication helped shape the fragrance business as it exists today. No cause of death has been made public, and details of a funeral or memorial service have not yet been announced.