Portraits through the years

Transcription

Portraits
through the years
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First, Guerlain breathed new spirit into
flowers and brought out the scents of
the fields, producing in turn a powder made
with lilies, a cream made with roses, a great
royal fragrance followed by an imperial one.
Then came Fleurs d’Italie, the scents of Belle
France preceded Jicky, Muguet or Bon Vieux
Temps. After these, Mitsouko, Pour Troubler,
Eau de Cédrat, and Mi-Mai made their debut,
followed by Candide Effluve. Shalimar which
appeared on the scene and reigned supreme
over a world seeking new horizons:
Sous le Vent, Vol de Nuit.
Vetiver, Nahema, Chants d’Arômes, and Chamade
revealed their strengths alongside Habit Rouge
and proud Samsara. The pursuit of perfume
was continued by Coriolan, Derby, and that
Instant, a never-ending fresh start, out of reach
perhaps, but a divine challenge to immortality.
As if to temper this tendency for metaphysics,
Guerlain made Insolence its new fragrance,
an unexpected violet and iris bouquet,
providing a welcome break from the original
floral impulse.
Jean Orizet
President of the Académie Mallarmé
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Pierre-François-Pascal
Guerlain
Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain was
born on 3 April 1798–21 Germinal
Year VI in the French Republican
Calendar–to a French family
from Picardy, who already had
a daughter called Augustine.
His father, Louis-François, came
from a wealthy Catholic family
in the late 18th-century bourgeois
tradition. Business was booming,
since the pewter pot making and spice
trades were in high demand in the new
republic, and Louis-François had some impressive professional
qualities: he was not afraid of hard work, he was generous
by nature and had an upstanding sense of moral rectitude.
Po r t r a i t s t h r o u g h t h e ye a r s
at the Maison Briard, which manufactured and sold perfumes.
This was in 1818–ten years before he opened his own boutique.
His job involved demonstrating and selling cosmetic products.
He continued his apprenticeship in the companies of Dissey and
Piver for several years, during which time he honed his knowledge
and expertise. He discovered various fashionable products,
often imported from England, and assessed their effectiveness.
The numerous trips he made to neighbouring countries not only
taught him the importance of exportation, but also the need
to honour orders, maintain product quality, even down to the
packaging, and meet delivery times. He could not help noticing
numerous shortcomings in these areas. Pierre‑François-Pascal,
who had inherited values and convictions to which he was
to remain deeply attached throughout his life, could not
continue dedicating himself indefinitely to products which had
been developed and manufactured by others and which were
continually experiencing setbacks. He had found his niche in life
and was determined to devote himself to it body and soul.
Learning the ropes
Making a start
Pierre-François-Pascal grew up in this strict, hard-working family
environment that also taught him the value of courage and
perseverance. The boisterous, inquisitive boy found his parents’
strictness hard to endure and he felt smothered by family
life. When he turned nineteen, he left the pungent smells
of his father’s shop and found employment as a sales assistant
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At this time, England was going through a period of great
economic and industrial growth and English research
in the fields of perfume, beauty products and soaps, was setting
the benchmark for future European countries. Armed with
nothing more than an unshakeable faith in his own abilities and
a determination to succeed in a world that he knew was made
for him, Pierre-François-Pascal crossed the English Channel and
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GUERLAIN 180 years
spent three years diligently studying medicine and chemistry.
He learned botanical secrets, mastered molecules and acquired
a thorough grasp of ratios and mixtures. He came back to
France a fully-fledged researcher, ready to spread his wings.
Spirit of free enterprise
In 1828, Pierre-François-Pascal started business
as a Parfumeur Vinaigrier, opening a boutique at
42 Rue de Rivoli, on the same site as the Hôtel Meurice.
The young entrepreneur’s determination to succeed soon
became apparent. He had not chosen this address by accident.
The Hôtel Meurice was a great favourite with wealthy
English visitors and England spoke very highly of the talents
of its perfumers. Pierre‑François-Pascal believed he had
to beat his competitors at their own game. His strategy
was very simple and well executed. He imported products
that were all the rage on the other side of the Channel,
such as Gowland’s Lotion or the Royal Extract of Flowers,
apparently Queen Victoria’s favourite, as well as soaps and
toilet vinegars from leading English companies. At the same
time, he opened his own factory at the Barrière de l’Etoile.
He worked tirelessly in his laboratory, from which he had a view
of the Arc de Triomphe through the narrow window, and his first
fragrances resembled his boutique, sophisticated with a hint of
Englishness. These included, for the record, perfumed essences
for handkerchiefs, such as Extrait de Mélilot, toilet waters, such as
Eau de Perles, and imaginative formulas for the rich and powerful,
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such as Bouquet de la Reine Victoria or Bouquet du Comte
d’Orsay, Eaux de Cologne titled Royale or Supérieure, as well
as numerous products like soaps, creams and pomades, thermal
preparations such as Bain cosmétique au baume de Judée, toilet
vinegars and perfume oils for burning, like Pot-pourri de Berlin.
Tall, elegant, and highly talented, Pierre-François-Pascal resembled
a storybook hero. He was also the living embodiment of certain
contradictions and conflicts that were typical of his generation and
country: a unique individual who was paradoxically representative
of his period. His original and innovative creations introduced
a brand-new style of which he was the undisputed master.
His boutique became the place to be seen and the Paris chic set
fawned upon him–his gamble had paid off! Everyone rushed to
buy his subtle fragrances, lotions, pomades and salves that were
praised in journals like La Mode and Les Sylfides. Customers fought
over tasteful objects like powder compacts or ivory nail buffers.
Fortune smiles on the brave, but Pierre-François-Pascal
did not let success go to his head, and his next pioneering
move was to set up shop at 11, then 15, Rue de la Paix,
which was still a poorly cobbled street. Royal commissions
flooded in. Pierre‑François‑Pascal became supplier to
the Grand Duchesses of Bade and of Württemberg
and of Her Majesty the Queen of Belgium.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
On the road
Imperial saga
In 1842, the leading sales agents in glassware, porcelain, cloth,
perfumery products, etc. joined forces to monopolise distribution,
mainly in Paris. Pierre-François-Pascal had absolutely no
intention of bowing to the demands of these future “giants”.
No agreements were signed. He withstood this pressure
with great panache, deciding that his products would be
exclusively supplied from his Paris boutique (this decision still
holds firm some 180 years later). However, this rebellious
businessman was also aware of the need to increase distribution
outside Paris and in the provinces. Laden with products,
his horse‑drawn conveyances visited some fifty towns in France,
making deliveries to the authorised agents that he had personally
handpicked with the care and attention he was renowned for.
The dynamic Guerlain seemed unstoppable. New perfume,
make‑up or personal hygiene products appeared at an incredible
rate. Pierre-François-Pascal was interested in all fields and his
friends moved in scientific or medical circles. His motto, which
appeared on the pediment of the factory, became the corporate
credo and every employee had to know it and, most importantly,
apply it! “Make good products and never compromise on quality.
As for the rest, stick to simple ideas and apply them scrupulously.”
However, Pierre-François-Pascal was keen to conquer the
world. He began with the major European cities: Berlin
and Hamburg, Brussels, Liege and Bruges, Vienna, Geneva
and Lausanne, Madrid, Cork, Milan, Florence, Amsterdam,
The Hague, London, Lisbon, not to mention Warsaw and
Krakow, Bucharest, Moscow and Odessa, Calcutta and
Pondicherry, New York and Boston. You could buy a “Guerlain”
virtually everywhere in the world! All the courts of Europe
fought over his creations. He became their official supplier,
providing fragrances to Queen Victoria, Queen Isabella of
Spain, the unforgettable Sissi, Empress of Austria, as well as
the courts of Central Europe and that of Saint Petersburg
with Bouquet de Furstemberg and Eau de Cologne Russe.
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This declaration of faith was passed on from generation
to generation. In 1853, Pierre-François-Pascal’s fame reached
new heights. Her Majesty Empress Eugénie gave him the title
of “His Majesty’s Official Perfumer” after the perfumer created
the masterly Eau de Cologne Impériale exclusively for her. On that
occasion, Pierre-François-Pascal commissioned his glassmaker,
Pochet & du Courval, to produce the emblematic bottle, known
as the “bee” bottle. This citrusy cologne was perfectly in keeping
with the fragrances of this period. Tasteful simplicity was all
the rage at the Imperial court: rose, orange blossom, jasmine.
The formula for the Bouquet de l’Impératrice, prepared by
Pierre-François-Pascal for Queen Victoria on the occasion
of her official visit in 1855, revealed the prevailing mood
of the century. The elegant ladies at the Tuileries lost no
time in noting that the fragrance contained a “discreditable
hint of musk”, as an article in the Messager des Modes put
it. Women at the time were supposed to be flowers.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Until the inspired inventor was succeeded by his son Aimé
in 1862, many other fragrances were created and manufactured
in the new factory at Colombes, built in 1854.
Creator, chemist, perfumer and businessman, Pierre-François
Pascal had been able to juggle his talents so that in less
than 50 years, he progressed from being a simple Parfumeur
Vinaigrier to the owner of a company which was not only
famous in France, but also had a wide international network.
Due to his innate sense of history he was able to understand
his contemporaries and anticipate their requirements.
Aimé
Guerlain
Aimé Guerlain had just turned thirty when he was promoted
to the position of Perfumer. His brother, Gabriel, was
in charge of corporate development.
It was hard for Aimé to assert himself
immediately, being the great man’s
son, so his first fragrances were a
continuation of his father’s work.
The latter had initiated him into
the art of perfumery and had passed
on his love for raw materials, like
rose, jasmine, lavender, etc. He knew all
their secrets and their limitations and had
been taught the mysteries of blending, that enigmatic alchemy
that can only be detected by the initiated. Aimé possessed all
the knowledge, but had yet to exercise his talent. Very little is
known about his early perfumes except that they were a sensory
representation of reality. Their beauty lay in their reconciliation of
nature and abstract ideas.
His fragrances were photographic portraits of flowers. The most
famous of them was the Bouquet de l’Exposition, launched at
the Universal Exhibition of 1867, where all the wonders of the
world were displayed over 40 hectares in the Champ de Mars.
Aimé continued the Guerlain tradition of creating fragrances
for an evening, a personality or a crowned head: Maréchale
Duchesse, Eau de Don Fernando and Imperial Russe in 1879.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Changing times
Birth of the first modern perfume
As this century drew to a close, attitudes and tastes gradually
changed. Artists’ imaginations were fired by the Orient, Asia,
and even Africa. With the advent of steamboats, the lure of
travelling to different places inspired a tendency for exoticism.
This changing climate formed the backdrop against which Aimé
was to create his new fragrances. The young creator had already
travelled the world. He had accompanied his father on trips to
far-off lands to buy the necessary ingredients for his fragrances.
He had also studied chemistry in England and could speak the
language perfectly. He recognised the importance of travel and
was determined to draw his inspiration from other places. Some
of his creations, dating from the 1870s, bear witness to this
willingness to venture beyond the frontiers of France: United
States Perfume, Violette d’Alger, Syringa du Japon, Moskwskaia,
Oppobalsam de la Mecque, and Fleur d’Italie, to name but a few.
Aimé entered the perfumers’ hall of fame when he created
his remarkable, and provocative, fragrance, Jicky, in 1889,
the same year as Baron Eiffel erected his scandalous tower.
The launch of Jicky corresponded to a crucial chapter
in the history of perfumery. At first, women were wary of
this radical new perfume and proved reluctant to buy it, so it was
worn by men. The fragrance symbolised a shift in attitudes
and brought about a change in perfume manufacturing, owing
to the use for the first time of synthetic products, without
which none of the great perfumes would have been possible.
As a result of this harmonious blend of synthetic and
natural products, Jicky was regarded, both in Guerlain’s
history and the history of perfumery in general,
as a link between the 19 th and 20 th centuries.
The creation of this perfume hinged on the discovery of
“coumarin”, in 1868, by Perkins. Coumarin, which can be isolated
from the tonka bean, gave rise to an entire family of fougère
fragrances, including Jicky. Additionally, in 1876, Georges de
Laire succeeded in making “vanillin”, using a derivative of conifer
sap. The mixture of vanillin, coumarin and linalol (extracted
from rosewood oil) gave the formula an ultra modern note
which ran counter to contemporary views on good taste.
The origin of the name has never really adequately been
explained. Jicky was the diminutive of the fifteen-year-old
Jacques, who had no idea that it was his destiny to create nearly
400 perfumes, including some fragrances that would still be
famous 120 years later. Aimé was very fond of his nephew,
This period also saw the birth, in literature and in art, of a
new approach, a new method of perceiving the natural world.
Artists no longer wanted to capture a true likeness: they were
more interested in small details, gradual variations in colour,
shifting light, the continually changing weather and the march
of time. Impressionism no longer wanted to imitate nature, but
to transform reality. Aimé was guided by this quest for pure
emotion when producing his new perfumes, particularly Jicky.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
who was passionate about perfume. However Jicky was
also Aimé’s first love. He had met this young English woman
when he was studying in London and never forgot her.
Jacques
Guerlain
“Worth is not a question of age
for those of noble birth.”
Corneille, Le Cid, free translation
Gabriel Guerlain’s son, Jacques,
was initiated into the art
of making perfume when he was
barely sixteen. Having grown
up surrounded by his family’s
fragrances, his future was
already mapped out. He spent
most of his time at the factory
in Colombes where his uncle,
Aimé, was in charge of creation.
Working alongside him, he learned the basics, which were
to make him the greatest, most prolific of perfumers.
Following in Aimé’s footsteps, his early creations were
in the tradition of his uncle’s fragrances. Little is known
about his first perfume in 1890, Ambre, which paved
the way for other creations like Dix pétales de roses,
Gavotte in 1897, Prince Zurlo in 1898, and Voilà pourquoi
j’aimais Rosine which ushered in the new century.
Jacques lived only for creation. He made it his personal credo
and profession. In the privacy of his laboratory at the factory of
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Colombes, he declared war on olfactory conventions and his
entire output bore the stamp of his commitment to innovation.
“A successful perfume
is one whose fragrance
corresponds to an initial dream.”
Jacques Guerlain
A rigorous, harmonious and voluptuous style was born.
Mouchoir de Monsieur and Voilette de Madame led
the dance in 1904. Initially created to celebrate the wedding
of one of his friends, these fragrances were then marketed
with the lucky recipient’s consent. Although Mouchoir
managed to stand the test of time, Voilette disappeared
along with its namesake, the fashionable veil worn by elegant
ladies to shield their faces and preserve their mystery.
A man of few words, Jacques was also a secretive man.
This was hardly surprising for someone whose mission was to
create perfume, an indefinable substance which is both the
height of abstraction and the ultimate in sensuality, something
invisible, intangible, volatile and ephemeral. Perfume stirs the
senses, and Jacques created his fragrances to pay homage to
women, who were his sole muse. Although not particularly
keen on fashionable parties, he was always in tune with
women, their deepest motivations and their codes of behaviour
in a continually changing world. His wife Lili greatly influenced
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his creations and he dedicated several of his perfumes to her.
He produced nearly 400 women’s fragrances. Most have
disappeared over the years, others have lasted so long
that they seem to make a mockery of olfactory fashions:
Après l’Ondée in 1906, the warm, velvety and sensual
L’Heure Bleue in 1912, Mitsouko, a chypre created in 1919
with its characteristic peach fragrance, Shalimar, which introduced
the family of oriental perfumes in 1925, and Vol de Nuit,
a highly sophisticated, enigmatic perfume, devised in 1933.
The huge book of family formulas makes mention
of all the perfumes created for an evening or an event.
Exclusive fragrances for Sarah Bernhardt, Josephine Baker,
Réjane and many other less famous women who were
important figures of their time or friends of the couple.
The perfume industry came into its own in Jacques’ era. Big names
like Coty, Houbigant, Caron and soon Chanel and Lanvin
established their own style and gained a reputation for innovation.
The discoveries in molecular chemistry promoted the growth
of this industry and, above all, opened up new horizons
for creators. Jacques Guerlain had inherited the family’s inquisitive
spirit, which urged him to meet up with scientists and exchange
letters with writers with whom, in many cases, he became friends.
Many of the innovative ideas that formed the basis of his great
fragrances came from these encounters. Mitsouko could not have
existed without the peachy, aldehydic C.14, Shalimar became
the leading oriental perfume owing to a vanilla content intensified
by a new synthetic product called ethyl vanillin, the mysterious
Vol de Nuit drew its origins from the novel by Saint-Exupéry,
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GUERLAIN 180 years
one of Jacques’ friends. All his fragrances, which were constructed
like pieces of architecture, have a dreamlike quality that defies
logic. They were both unique and a mirror of their period.
Art, creation, precision
This hard-working, solitary perfumer made his fragrances
alone, and only an assistant who helped him carry heavy
flasks, had access to his laboratory. He would work for hours
at his perfume organ with a detective novel in one hand and
a selection of smelling strips in the other. His territory was
defined by this console, which contained bottles of essential oils
in alphabetical order. At the time, the formulas were entered
into a huge secret book and only family members had access to
it. When a formula was finished, Jacques wrote it into the book
in his spiky, definite hand, as Aimé and Pierre-François-Pascal
had done before him. His grandson Jean-Paul was to continue
this ritual… Jacques had absolute authority over life in the factory.
It would have been hard to withstand such a strong character,
although no one seemed tempted to try, since he appeared
to rule the workforce with an iron hand. When “Monsieur
Jacques” was not happy, everyone knew it and everybody
heard about it. The whole factory trembled if he raised his
voice. His reputation as a hard worker was not confined to the
laboratory. When he wanted to test a perfume, he would take
home numerous smelling strips and early samples, so that he
could smell them in an atmosphere which was not impregnated
with scents like the factory. In his view, a perfume did not impose
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its fragrance–it had to resemble the abstract image formed of it
by the creator. He did not bother with useless embellishments:
a good formula was a concise formula. This constant desire to get
down to basics, mirrored by his tendency to get straight to the
point when talking, could also be found in his love for nature.
Wide open spaces suited his somewhat austere nature.
In his spare time, he hunted or rode in the forest, and
his secret passion was collecting paintings by his Impressionist
friends. At that time, he was the largest collector of these
painters, who were gradually establishing a reputation.
When in 1955, he took his grandson, Jean-Paul, to the factory
at Courbevoie, he not only initiated him into perfumery,
but he also passed on his love for beauty. After a day spent
working with fragrances, both men would pay a visit to
antiques dealers specialising in 18th-century furniture or would
go to admire works by his painter friends. Jacques worked
until he was an old man and devoted a certain amount of
time to Jean-Paul’s olfactory education. Whether it was
at the factory or in his house at Les Mesnuls, a real family
base, he never left his smelling strips and his flasks. The last
formula he smelt was Jean-Paul’s study for a perfume that
was to be called Chant d’Arômes. He departed this world
“overcome by perfume” (Zola, La Faute de l’abbé Mouret).
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Jean-Paul Guerlain
He had wanted to teach literature, but life had other plans.
His deteriorating sight forced him to give up this childhood
dream. His grandfather, Jacques Guerlain, decided to take
young Jean-Paul under his wing and taught him to memorise
fragrances. Closeted for better or worse in a tiny room at the
top of the factory at Courbevoie, the teenager (who was
barely seventeen) discovered the olfactory dictionary of natural
and synthetic raw materials. He began by smelling and
memorising the Amyl Acetate and finished a few years later
with Wintergreen and some 3,000 other scents embedded
in his memory. Learning to make formulas, he amused himself
by recreating some of the leading perfumes of the day like
Chantilly by Houbigant, or Fracas by Piguet, which he wittily
nicknamed “Tracas” (Bother), because it was so hard to make.
A jonquil from the south of France was to play a decisive role
in the denouement of this drama. In 1956, certain species
failed to flower because of the harsh winter. The perfumers,
particularly Guerlain, were hard hit by shortages of natural raw
materials. The jonquil was one of the products that was in short
supply. A small metal container arrived at the factory and was
accidentally destroyed. In a fit of temper, Jacques Guerlain
ordered his grandson to recreate this fragrance. At that time,
there was no chromatography, and no technical support–it could
only be done by sense of smell. As Jean-Paul Guerlain stressed
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“fortune smiles on the brave”;
he managed to recreate the
formula for the flower’s perfume
and called his grandfather’s
bluff. Jacques appointed him
his successor, which caused
a family revolution, because
only eldest sons were admitted
into the company of the select
few in the Guerlain family, and Patrick, Jean-Paul’s older
brother, had all but been appointed to ensure continuity.
For nearly five years, Jean-Paul Guerlain learned
all the different facets of the profession. He helped
his grandfather, weighed formulas, and made creams, etc.
This was how people learned the ropes at Guerlain.
Jean-Paul lost no time in coming up with his first formula,
Vetiver: a fragrance for men, and above all for himself. Probably
because he had not yet found his muse: “the woman with
whom one lives, the woman for whom”, as he was told
by his beloved grandfather, “you always create perfumes”.
He was only nineteen, after all. He made up for it later
with his declaration of love, Nahema, a lavish bouquet of roses
that was produced in 900 different blends before he chose,
with difficulty, the 138th, or the oriental scents of Samsara
for the woman in his life who did not wear perfume, or again
the splendour of white flowers in Jardins de Bagatelle.
This skilled horse rider, who took part in the World
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Dressage Championships in 1974, came up with several
of his recent Aqua Allegoria at daybreak when, astride
his favourite horse, he trampled the cool grass of his
property at Les Mesnuls, or in the evening, when the heat
brought out the fragrances of his aromatic garden.
His nose is always alert and his smelling strips are always within
arm’s reach. This “Marco Polo of essential oils” has been bitten
by the travel bug and his passion for setting off for somewhere
new has never waned. Jean-Paul shops for sweet scents all over
the world. He travels to Grasse for the May rose, Calabria
for bergamot, and the Nile delta or India for jasmine. But travelling
the world is not enough. He owns his own land and produces
his own essential oils. He has a vanilla and ylang-ylang plantation
in Mayotte and he distils orange blossom in Tunisia. Far from
the hustle and bustle of Paris, he enjoys the pleasure afforded by
this renewed solitude and draws his ideas for future perfumes
from the natural world. Like his ancestors, Jean-Paul Guerlain soon
realised that perfume is a world in itself, a history, a geography.
It tells a person’s innermost story. Perfume encapsulates
everything: what you were, what you are, and what you would like
to be. Guerlain perfumes, which are highly memorable, possess
this evocative power. And, throughout his life, Jean-Paul Guerlain
has never stopped capitalising on this heritage and making it bear
fruit. It is not enough for him to study and produce the formulas
of his ancestors, he needs new scents: fresh, sensual, familiar or
unfamiliar scents to create fragrances, find his way and answer
his calling: to make women even more beautiful and seductive.
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His persistence is equalled only by his rebellious nature.
Refusing to take the beaten track, he blazes a new trail
through the mysteries of creation. What does it matter if rose
perfumes are all the rage: he dreams up a woody jasmine, which
receives the seal of approval. He is renowned in the profession
for his passion and his generosity, as well as his love for women,
who have inspired his finest fragrances–Samsara, Nahema,
Chamade and many others familiar only to the women they were
created for. Because Jean-Paul obligingly hires out his talent.
Sold throughout the world or exclusively in the Guerlain
boutiques, his fragrances reveal his love for natural raw
materials and his preference for concise formulas. He shares
his ancestors’ view that the beauty of a perfume has nothing
to do with the number of ingredients. What is important
is to obtain the right accord. Everything takes place in the
creator’s mind before a smelling strip is dipped into a sample
formula. His range of ingredients include the finest traditional
raw materials that he has carefully selected, plus a wide range
of sweet-smelling molecules that were not around before.
Since 2002, he has held the role of consultant to the President
of Guerlain, supervising the quality of the natural ingredients
and continuing to blend compelling accords. He spends his
free time with his three grandsons, shares Jean d’Ormesson’s
love of Chateaubriand, and listens to Brahms and Mozart.
This composer of fragrances also has a gift for flavours, as can
be seen by the local dishes and recipes of his own devising
that grace his table. He also adores wine and this passion
continues to swell his wine cellar, which already contains
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3,000 bottles from all over the world. And, although he has
given up his youthful hobby of cabinet making, he still enjoys
the feel of wood “that blend of roughness and silkiness”.
The great
guerlain
fragrances
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GUERLAIN 180 years
“Is perfume not
the most intense form
of memory?”
Jean-Paul Guerlain
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The great Guerlain fragrances
We were guided in our early explorations
by different smells. Perfumes have, wrote
Baudelaire, “ the power to expand into infinity”.
And yet it may be our own sense of infinity that
they reveal, reviving our capacity for wonder, hope
and remembering. We have all probably had this
experience at some point in our lives: we smell
something and suddenly we are overcome by a moment
from our childhood, the presence of a loved one or a
forgotten landscape. Reality fades before this memory.
Perfumes possess the rare power to help us pinpoint
the true essence of happiness, which is so hard to define
or express. Just as a melody can enhance a poem,
perfumes often bear witness to our first emotions,
our deepest feelings. We never forget the fragrance
of those special meetings, especially if it was love at first
sight; those fragrances remain engraved in our memory.
A drop of perfume behind the ear, on the nape
of the neck, on the inner wrists, on the décolleté,
then a mist of eau de toilette for other people,
who will mainly detect the top notes, while the perfume
develops its base notes out of sight. The perfume
we never tire of is like a mirror. It reflects our moods,
strengthens us and soothes us with the familiarity of
its accords. It creates invisible bonds between us and
another person. Wearing perfume is a way of placing
ourselves centre stage and of protecting ourselves.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Guerlain’s fragrance creators had a deep insight into
the power of perfume. Since 1828, they have produced
around 760 fragrances which have fortified generations
of women with their secret accords. There cannot be
many people who have not owned a Guerlain at some
point in their life. The seductive power of these fragrances
is partly down to a family resemblance that makes
them totally recognisable. The key to this enigma is an
accord, the Guerlinade, which is found in each of the
fragrances. A jealously guarded secret, this accord
contains, among other things, jasmine enhanced
by rose, vanilla, tonka bean… but the perfumer’s art
is all about keeping precious formulas a secret.
With five generations of perfumers, poets of
the indefinable, Guerlain has produced some
olfactory landmarks in the history of perfumery
that have survived the test of time and fashion.
At times inspired by human experience, at times
the result of transient feelings or intense emotions,
they were all created with love and passion.
Let us attempt to unlock the secret
of some of these fragrances…
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Eau de cologne
impériale
1853
“Music is about together notes
that love each other”
Free translation of quote from Mozart
At the age of nineteen, Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain left
his native Picardy and the fragrant aromas of the shop owned
by his father, a spice dealer and pewter pot maker, for England,
where he studied to be a chemist and physician. He then
came to Paris and, with his sound scientific knowledge and
several years of experience with future competitors like Piver
and Dissey he founded the Guerlain company in 1828.
It did not take him long to win over the elegant ladies and
dandies of the period and set the benchmark in the world
of beauty. He could not have known back then that he was
founding a dynasty of five generations of Guerlain perfumers.
This prolific creator was able to turn his hand to skincare and
make-up products while giving free rein to his passion for perfume.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
His first tour de force was his creation, in 1853, of the Eau de
Cologne Impériale for Eugénie de Montijo, Napoleon III’s wife.
According to Guerlain family legend, this light, citrusy
eau de Cologne was created in response to a
request from Her Majesty, who asked Guerlain, a
qualified chemist and physician, if he could relieve
the symptoms of her terrible migraines…
This first bespoke perfume earned its creator the title
of “His Majesty’s Official Perfumer”. Pierre-François-Pascal
Guerlain capitalised on this Imperial seal of approval, and
his fragrances took the courts of Europe by storm.
Opposite: Eau de Cologne Impériale
advertisement designed by Elise Darcy (1936)
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GUERLAIN 180 years
JICKY
1889
“Jicky is emotion in a bottle.”
Jean-Paul Guerlain
In 1889, Aimé Guerlain created his first masterpiece: Jicky.
It was the height of the industrial revolution and chemistry
and photography were no longer in their infancy. Aimé had
an enquiring mind, like his father, Pierre-François-Pascal,
and he was greatly interested in the new discoveries of
his time–particularly in two synthetic molecules which
had just been isolated: coumarin and vanillin.
Aimé Guerlain combined these two in his formula to create
Jicky, a perfume so complex and so contemporary that it
was immediately described as the “first modern perfume”.
Jicky broke with traditional perfumery, which merely
imitated nature, and marked the advent of an “emotional”
type of perfumery which no longer attempted to emulate
the fragrance of flowers, but endeavoured to stir emotion.
Jicky meant that, in the future, perfumes would possess
a definite fragrance trail, a lasting effect and an interplay
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GUERLAIN 180 years
of many unique facets. Jicky is a magical perfume that combines
flamboyant top notes with warm, delicate base notes.
Although women were unsure about Jicky when it was
first launched and immediately adopted by men,
it is now very popular with both sexes.
Why was it called “Jicky”? It was in memory of a
girl, nicknamed Jicky, whom Aimé Guerlain had loved
when he was studying in England. It was purely coincidental
that the diminutive of Jacques was also Jicky.
Opposite: Jicky advertisement
designed by Georges Buisson (1898)
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GUERLAIN 180 years
MOUCHOIR DE MONSIEUR 1904
“The only truly exhilarating experience
in the life of a man is seducing women.”
Free translation of Guy de Maupassant
At the turn of the 20th century, the dandies started a fashion
for delicately perfumed fine linen handkerchiefs, while society
ladies concealed their eyes behind a black veil. Jacques Guerlain
mischievously created Mouchoir de Monsieur and Voilette
de Madame for the wedding of one of his friends.
“Mouchoir” blends citrus freshness and exuberant
aromatic notes with the subtlety of a fougère accord that
contains a touch of delicately powdered wood. It is still a hit
with the sophisticated man about town. Maison Guerlain on
the Champs-Elysées accomplished a tour de force in 2005 when it
reissued these two fragrances in their original “snail” bottle.
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APRÈS L’ONDÉE
“Certain smells, sometimes
simple ones, can open
the floodgates of memory.”
Marcel Proust,
À l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs
Free translation
For those who like imagery, this romantic, powdery perfume could
be the illustration of a photo by Boubat. It could depict the figure
of a dreamy, passionate woman walking through undergrowth in
the early years of the 20th century or, at the same time, it could
embody the spirit of the dancer Isadora Duncan, who, free from
all constraint, whirled bare-foot, clad in long transparent veils.
Its floral note is orchestrated around violet, iris and vanilla
tones. This sweet perfume, which might seem old-fashioned
to some, still fires the imagination. Contemporary young
women who have made it their choice, swear they cannot
live without it. Age cannot wither grace and poetry and
Après l’Ondée has the indescribable appeal of ageless creations.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
L’HEURE BLEUE
1912
“The sun has set,
but night has not yet fallen.
It is the suspended hour…
The hour when man finally feels at one
with the world and the light.”
Jacques Guerlain
In 1912, Jacques Guerlain created L’Heure
Bleue. This bouquet of roses mellowed
by iris, violet and vanilla, conjures up
its creator’s favourite time of day when,
he says: “night has not yet found its star”.
L’Heure Bleue
advertisement designed
by Elise Darcy (1936)
L’Heure Bleue arose out of that fleeting feeling which
inspired the Impressionist painters whose works Jacques
Guerlain collected. This armful of sweet flowers, stirred by a
powdery breeze carrying oriental notes, makes L’Heure Bleue
a paean to the simple pleasures of life and Romanticism.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
MITSOUKO
1919
“Mitsouko prepares the voluptuous way
for emotion and sensuality in bewitching
bursts of jasmine, patchouli and a peach
note that conjures up the fruit at its ripest.”
Jacques Guerlain
After four terrible years of fighting and hardship which scarred
Europe forever, women wanted to make up for lost time and
live life to the full. They cut their hair boyishly short, raised the
hems of their dresses and became a force to be reckoned with
in every field. At that time, Europe was fascinated by Japan
and Far-Eastern culture. Jacques Guerlain created Mitsouko, a
slightly androgynous chypre perfume that paid homage to the
heroine of the best-selling novel La Bataille by his friend, Claude
Farrère. Mitsouko, a beautiful Japanese bride, was secretly in
love with a British officer. In 1905, when the Russo-Japanese
war broke out, Mitsouko waited with dignity for the fighting
to end, nobly suppressing her emotions. This was the type of
story that was bound to strike a chord in the post-war years.
Opposite: Mitsouko advertisement
designed by Charnotet (1959)
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Mitsouko is a chypre, a family of fragrances that smell of
autumnal forests and undergrowth. The name chypre is French
for the island of Cyprus where, as legend has it, Aphrodite,
the goddess of love, was born. This island played a central
role in the perfume trade from the Orient. It was Guerlain
that first used the name chypre in an Eau de Chypre in 1872,
then Cyprisine in 1894 and Chypre de Paris in 1909.
What made Mitsouko such a modern fragrance was
Jacques Guerlain’s remarkable, and audacious idea
of combining a chypre with a fruity peach note.
Mitsouko means “mystery” in Japanese; it afforded
a new take on chypre perfumes by combining fruity
top notes with some deliciously enigmatic woody base
notes, thereby symbolising a passionate, mysterious
type of femininity that had never been seen before…
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GUERLAIN 180 years
SHALIMAR
1925
“A successful perfume is one whose
fragrance corresponds to an initial dream.”
Jacques Guerlain
Jacques Guerlain’s greatest success was, undoubtedly,
Shalimar. It was launched in 1925, when the Decorative
Arts Exhibition was setting the trend for a rich and inventive
new style that showcased the most precious materials and
the rarest essential oils. This taste for Oriental exoticism
grew ever more pronounced during these years.
A spontaneous act of creation? A stroke of luck?
As the story goes, Jacques Guerlain, brimming with
enthusiasm for a sample of synthetic vanilla he had just
received, poured it into a bottle of Jicky, just to see…
The exquisite outcome exceeded all expectation.
Voluptuous, sensual, so audacious as to be almost
provocative, Shalimar aroused desire and pushed
back the boundaries of social taboo.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Its name was no less captivating: Shalimar, which means
“temple of love” in Sanskrit, refers to the legendary garden
where the Mogul Emperor, Shah Jahan, used to keep
his trysts with his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Deeply in
love, he was inconsolable when she died and he built a lavish
mausoleum, the fabulous Taj Mahal, in her memory.
Jacques Guerlain illustrated this story with a perfume from
the Arabian Nights, an olfactory hymn to love and sensuality. It is
a fragrance that expresses temptation, the lure of the forbidden
fruit, and arouses the desire to draw ever closer. This bold,
voluptuous fragrance was the very first oriental fragrance.
Opposite: Shalimar
advertisement designed
by Leonard (1926)
Shalimar advertisement
designed by Vassi (1926)
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GUERLAIN 180 years
VOL DE NUIT
1933
“Perhaps they will catch a note
that would be a sign of life. If the aircraft
and its navigation lights climb among
the stars, perhaps they will hear
this star singing.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Vol de nuit
In 1933, Jacques Guerlain produced
another exceptional fragrance, Vol de Nuit,
whose dominant dynamic green, woody
note is mellowed by vanilla and iris.
The multiple floral and woody
facets of this fragrance unfold within
a bold oriental fragrance trail.
Inspired by the novel written by his friend Saint-Exupéry,
the perfume Vol de Nuit was dedicated to women of action who,
like the famous contemporary aviator, Hélène Boucher, were able
to cultivate a love of danger and make a name for themselves
in a male world, without sacrificing their femininity.
Vol de Nuit advertisement
designed by Charnotet (1959)
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VeTIVER
1959
“All theory is grey
while the tree of life is vibrant green.”
Free translation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Jean-Paul Guerlain almost did not become one of
the company’s perfumers, because it was the eldest son
of the family who had right of inheritance. Fate decreed
otherwise though and his career started in 1959 with
the creation of an exclusively men’s fragrance: Vetiver.
Guerlain had long been providing vetiver in diluted form
which, for the record, was a best-seller in… Mexico.
In the 1950s, competition began to get fiercer, and the
family decided to produce an elegant, highly sophisticated
new fragrance, using vetiver roots as a base.
Young Jean-Paul, who was barely eighteen years old,
was entrusted with this mission. After several failed attempts,
he produced this subtle dosage of vetiver rhizomes that conjured
up scents rising from the earth in the pale light of dawn.
This portrait of the first morning of the world was enriched
with a woody accord and the refined elegance of spices and
tobacco to produce an exquisite, sophisticated fragrance.
Opposite: Vetiver advertisement designed by Arrigoni Neri (1982)
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CHANT D’ARÔMES
1965
“I dreamed of an island
greener than dreams.”
Saint-John Perse,
Poèmes
Free translation
This youthful creation was
Jean-Paul Guerlain’s first
women’s fragrance, created
for the woman who became
his wife a few months later.
Described as a demure
perfume, Chant d’Arômes is
a bouquet of spring flowers
like honeysuckle and gardenia.
Mandarin and bergamot provide
a hint of mischievousness over
a jasmine and ylang-ylang base.
Chant d’Arômes advertisement
designed by Mik (1962)
This fragrance revealed Jean-Paul Guerlain’s
deep love for natural ingredients.
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HABIT ROUGE
1965
“An elegant allure does not make
the man but it does forge his reputation
in the eyes of the world.”
Claude Aveline,
Les Réflexions de monsieur F.A.T.
Free translation
Some families have passions that are so firmly engrained that they
are almost a genetic marker. A love of horses is embedded in the
Guerlain family genes (Jean-Paul Guerlain sat on a pony before
he could even walk). It made sense, therefore, for this perfumer,
who was actually a dressage champion, to dedicate a fragrance
to the equestrian art. Habit Rouge, named after those famous
jackets worn by horse-riders, is an acrobatic fragrance in which
the spices and patchouli are given a new lease of life on contact
with the orange, lemon and bergamot. However, what made
Habit Rouge an unsettling perfume for men in the 1960s, was a
guest appearance by vanilla, which gave it a more feminine side.
This rich, sensual vanilla note is very prominent and highly unusual
for the conventional Puritanism of earlier men’s fragrances.
Opposite: Habit Rouge advertisement (1965)
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GUERLAIN 180 years
CHAMADE
1969
“In its way, a perfume
is an invisible piece of clothing,
playing on the tension between
what is hidden
and what is revealed.”
Jean-Paul Guerlain
Women wanted equality with men and the late 1960s marked
a watershed in the relationship between the sexes. The novel
by Françoise Sagan, La Chamade, had a profound impact on an
entire generation of young women who wanted a different
lifestyle. Jean-Paul Guerlain, who had just turned 32, was not
unmoved by these new patterns of behaviour. He created
Chamade for these young women who were flaunting their
womanhood, a perfume as bold as the women it was made
for. This was the first time that a perfumer had come up
with a formula combining the green, fruity accent of blackcurrant
bud with a verdant harmony of jacinth, roses and galbanum.
This composition was blended with a typical “Guerlinade”,
whose main ingredients were vanilla, iris and tonka bean.
For a respectable company like Guerlain, this was
a somewhat revolutionary perfume…
Chamade advertisement designed by Nikasinovich (1971)
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GUERLAIN 180 years
NAHeMA
1979
“In perfect stillness, with her hands clasped
over her heart, she continued smiling,
while she listened to the whispers
of the perfumes in her buzzing head.”
Émile Zola,
La Faute de l’abbé Mouret
Free translation
The most beautiful portrait of roses ever dedicated to
a woman, Nahema was the favourite perfume of its creator,
Jean-Paul Guerlain, who loves, even adores, roses–there
are over 80 varieties in his garden in Les Mesnuls. Nahema
originated in the emotion he felt when Catherine Deneuve
appeared in the film Benjamin: the Diary of an Innocent Boy.
All dressed in white, surrounded by rosebuds, she dazzled
him and provided him with the vision for his perfume.
Nahema is a highly sophisticated perfume, structured over
the insistent rhythm of Ravel’s Boléro. The main olfactory
note gradually becomes an obsessive presence. Nahema is
an absolute rose, constructed on a floral rose accord which
heightens the heady appeal of the top notes and is underpinned
by a woody, fruity base with an exciting hint of sandalwood.
This rich, sumptuous ultra-feminine perfume took its creator
four years of hard work and over five-hundred attempts.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
SAMSARA
1989
“Samsara is Nirvana,
and Nirvana is Samsara.”
Arnaud Desjardins
A century after Jicky, Jean-Paul Guerlain created Samsara
for the woman in his life who did not wear perfume.
The only instructions given to the perfumer: sandalwood
and jasmine, which were particular favourites of the woman
who henceforth was known as the Lady of Samsara.
Although Guerlain perfumes have always been created
for a woman, Samsara is the pure, true expression of love.
In order to win over his muse, Jean-Paul Guerlain made numerous
trips to India where he bought the purest sandalwood, tracked
down a jasmine hitherto only used for religious offerings
and built a factory to distill it. He completely altered habits
and attitudes to attain his goal. The difficulties were legion and
the pitfalls inevitable, but people will do anything for love.
The very concept of Samsara focused on a new spirituality
that was beginning to emerge in intellectual circles of
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GUERLAIN 180 years
that period. Women wanted to find a new meaning in life and
the hard-line consumer society was in a bad way. There was
a desire for different experiences. Samsara responded to
this quest for serenity, fulfilment and the Absolute.
Its sophisticated structure, with a dominant accord of
two notes, jasmine and sandalwood, punctuated by citrusy
woody notes, took Jean-Paul Guerlain two years of hard
work and over three-hundred attempts to get right.
Its name, which means “eternal rebirth” in Sanskrit,
is written on the “wheel of life”, the central
religious symbol of Tibetan Buddhism.
Samsara sketchs designed
by Robert Granai
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GUERLAIN 180 years
the Aqua Allegoria
and…
1999
“My garden has many faces,
it enjoys mirroring my moods or,
on the contrary, surprising me.
And, often even, it manages to move me.”
Jean-Paul Guerlain
Women have always been the main source of inspiration
for Guerlain’s perfume creators, but 1999 saw a sea change in
the exclusive world of fragrance. Jean-Paul Guerlain paid a warm
tribute to the natural world he loved by creating a collection
of eaux de toilette, the Aqua Allegoria, with their floral and
fruity scents. Every spring was now celebrated with the arrival
of two new fragrances. Like flowerings, some were short-lived,
while others became perennials. Although very different, they had
two things in common–their charm and originality: Pamplelune,
Herba Fresca, Grosellina, Figue-Iris, Mandarine-Basilic.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
L’INSTANT DE GUERLAIN 2003
“The instant lasted, stretched, lingered,
his fingers were now searching for my arm,
or maybe it was my arm reaching for his.”
Irène Frain
L’Instant de Guerlain is the olfactory expression of one of
those special moments when everything can change suddenly,
when we are touched to the core of our being. It is a moment
of intense emotion between a man and a woman.
The woman is more conscious of her femininity than
ever before–she seems to have learned something
new about herself. Time may stand still. In the tradition
of Guerlain’s classic fragrances, this perfume is
a fresh take on the ultra-famous Guerlinade.
Created by Sylvaine Delacourte and Maurice Roucel,
L’Instant de Guerlain introduced a new olfactory
interpretation of the floral family: crystalline ambers.
The citrus honey accord brings in a second accord constructed
around Chinese magnolia, enhanced by sambac jasmine
and ylang-ylang, which then brightens the amber accord.
Three dominant sensations that merge
to create a radiant, sensuous perfume.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
L’INSTANT DE GUERLAIN
POUR HOMME
2004
“Man is born for pleasure.”
Free translation of quote by Blaise Pascal
An indeterminate length of time and time delineated by a
story. Removing the stopper from a bottle can be like opening
a novel. A story unfolds that no one will want to forget. L’Instant
de Guerlain pour Homme is one of those irresistible fragrances
that bring all kinds of unexpected feelings to the surface.
After the meeting afforded in L’Instant de Guerlain, every
moment has to be lived together, intensely and passionately.
Designed as a contrast, this men’s fragrance should exhilarate
the woman who smells it and the man who wears it.
Its secret? It appeals directly to the heart and the senses.
Everything hinges on the element of surprise, the interplay
between fire and ice, bold masculinity and reserved femininity.
Only women could solve the mystery of the male psyche in this
way. As it happens, Sylvaine Delacourte and Béatrice Piquet
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GUERLAIN 180 years
focused on the hopes and desires of the men who make life
interesting. Guerlain’s men’s fragrance for the third millennium
is a radiant, woody perfume that harnesses the energy
of lemon, bergamot and star anise for a cool undertone
which then burns with the heat of bitter cocoa and hibiscus
and is spellbound by the heady scents of patchouli.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
INSOLENCE
2006
“Insolence is one of
the last remaining luxuries.”
Daniel Picouly
L’Enfant léopard
Free translation
Insolence is a sparkle in the eyes, a bold smile that fears
nothing and no-one; a silent look of amusement.
It is also casual grace, ironic elegance, style and
a refusal to be just anybody–at any price.
It is a woman who wins hearts by her presence, charisma and
spontaneity; it is Hilary Swank, the muse of this fragrance.
Guerlain wanted a fragrance that overturned the traditional
olfactory pyramid in favour of an overall composition
that went straight to the heart of the matter: violet.
A new dazzling violet, intense and highly charged by a granita
of red fruits; a triumphant violet.
The very opposite of the timid note that
is usually muted, overshadowed. This is a transfiguration, a discovery, a totally unexpected, yet
familiar flower that transports you into a world where
boldness, irreverence and freedom reign supreme.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
MAISON GUERLAIN
2005
Guerlain’s fragrances pride themselves on being timeless and
this quality was central to the concept behind the Maison
Guerlain and the exclusive Guerlain boutiques, which offer
special or limited editions and exclusive fragrances which are
only on sale in these havens of luxury, calm and sensuality.
In 2005, a golden space
dedicated to perfume was
created at the heart of the
boutique at 68 Avenue
des Champs-Élysées,
a space where Guerlain
could give free range
to its talent: reissued
“vintage” perfumes whose
formula and packaging are
identical to the original; a special collection, L’Art et la Matière,
which places the emphasis on a single precious ingredient;
the reissue of special edition perfumes that celebrated a
particular event or occasion and the imperial fountains where
the gilded bee bottles are given a new lease of life. An array of
innovative products celebrating Guerlain’s creative panache.
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New olfactory horizons
L’Art et la Matière
Guerlain’s perfume creators have always focused on the
materials and have refused to be bound by the codes of fashion.
This endeavour continues with the creation of L’Art et la Matière,
an exciting new collection of perfumes that allow the company’s
“noses” to give free rein to the passion and emotion inspired
by an original, precious raw material. Sylvaine Delacourte,
Director of Perfume Creation, organises these fragrances
into two groups: Fleurs Sublimes and Matières Précieuses.
Rose Barbare, Angélique Noire, Cuir Beluga, Bois
d’Arménie, Iris Ganache, Cruel Gardenia play
the lead roles on this new olfactory stage.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Giving the past a future
Limited editions
Plus que jamais Guerlain, a superb fragrance constructed around
Jean-Paul Guerlain’s beloved signature flowers
(rose, ylang-ylang, jasmine, iris), was created
in 2005. 2006 saw the introduction of Nuit
d’amour whose heady olfactory impact
was due to its beautiful ingredients
(sandalwood, May rose, iris).
In 2007, Quand vient la pluie,
a subtle perfume by Sylvaine
Delacourte and Thierry Wasseur,
demonstrated the beauty of a landscape fragrance
in a stunning sculptured bottle by Serge Mansau.
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Les Parisiennes
These perfumes were all created for a special occasion and, as
such, were never meant to last. These eight eaux de toilette
are being reissued to the delight of the men or women
who once wore them and thought them lost forever.
Whether worn by men or women, they come in the same historic
bottle, designed for the Eau de Cologne Impériale in 1853.
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GUERLAIN 180 years
Il était une fois…
Guerlain takes you on an olfactory journey back in time with the
fragrances of Vega, Sous le Vent, Kadine, Cachet Jaune and Ode.
A completely unexpected
encounter with raw materials
in their natural state, presented
in understated dishes designed
by Andrée Putman, candles
to create an ambiance and
even an amusing Eau de Lit
to inject a little fragrance
into your dreams…
Vintage
It would be impossible to list the names of every single Guerlain
fragrance. There are around 760 of them! But some are being
reissued, having lost none of their former beauty. In 2005,
the world was able to discover Voilette de Madame and
Mouchoir de Monsieur, created in 1904 by Jacques
Guerlain, in their “snail” bottle. The following year, the
bright, fresh Eau Hégémonienne, created in 1880 by
Aimé Guerlain, had its turn. 2007 saw the revival of the
deceptively demure warmth of Candide Effluve, a rich
fragrance produced by Jacques Guerlain in 1922.
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2008 also bodes well with some matchless pleasures
in store: the planned reissue of the
Parfum des Champs-Élysées and its remarkable Baccarat
crystal “tortoise” bottle in a generous 500 ml size.
And the crème de la crème: the chance to own a completely
personalised perfume. A unique perfume that is yours alone. The
Guerlain family used to
create exclusive perfumes
for key society figures
or for friends and loved
ones. Now, 180 years
later, Guerlain is reviving
this incredible branch of
expertise which played
a significant part in the
company’s reputation.
Selecting the right perfume
is an adventure which, like all great journeys, requires a great deal
of thought, patience and time. But some women, despite having
the uncontrollable urge to own a unique customised perfume,
do not have the free time needed for its conception. For them,
Sylvaine Delacourte has created the Collection Privée, boasting a
score of exclusive fragrances that correspond to the main olfactory
families. When one of these fragrances has been chosen, it
becomes the exclusive property of the person who has selected it.
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photographiC CrEdits
Guerlain Archives
Pages : 4, 11, 15, 21, 33, 37, 38, 39, 43, 45, 50, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 58, 60, 61, 63
Antoine Bootz : page 28
Patrick Paufert : pages 30, 35, 41, 42, 46, 49, 53,
65, 69, 71, 72, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83
Arrigoni Neri : page 54
Dessins de Robert Granai : pages 66, 67
Dessin de Thierry Marchal : page 74
Azim Haidaryan : page 75
Chirol : page 63
James White : page 77
3-NezCreations ANG 27-03.indd 84
31/03/08 14:34:27

Portraits through the years

Transcription

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