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NEW YORK - They paint their faces, wear leather and studs and have legions of faithful fans.
Now KISS, after more than three decades of heavy-metal music and outrageousness, plans to market two fragrances. How's that for a surprise?
The band inked a licensing deal with Gemini Cosmetics Thursday for both beauty and fragrances. The first products will be out in September: men's and women's scents.
"We thought about doing makeup," band co-founder Paul Stanley, the group's guitarist, joked in an interview. "But we weren't sure how many women would want to walk around with white-painted faces."
The deal, brokered by the band's management, Doc Mc Ghee Management, and its merchandise and licensing representative, Signatures Network, includes both fragrance and beauty products, with men's and women's scents launching first. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Everything is so expected in fragrances these days," Neil Katz, president and chief executive of Gemini Cosmetics, said in an interview. "We wanted to do something completely unexpected and create some excitement in department stores....