Ever since the Renaissance, there has been a veritable cult of beauty. Lovers of beauty were fetishistic about cosmetics like rouge, face powder and talc. Ever since Estée Lauder’s Youth Dew, in 1952, perfume, the ultimate touch of sophistication, has perfected the cosmetic effect of skin care and make-up by enhancing beauties’ soul.
Like a modern autograph, celebrity fragrances have become the stars’ olfactory signatures. The first hit came from America, with Elisabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds. In a world of images and glamour, celebrity fragrances make perfect sense.
To each age its own pleasures. Fragrance is one that evolves over the course of a life. If brands are aiming at young ones – from babies to Lolitas – it’s to initiate them right from the start into the magic of perfume, building fragrant memories of a time of insouciance for later.
From outer beauty to inner beauty is just a step. Stylists, decorators and designers understand that, and have extended their inventiveness and aesthetic quests to fragrant signature creations.
When ready-to-wear designers express themselves through fragrance, they pair the accessory to the essential with easy-to-wear fragrances matching the spirit of the times.
Reflection of the era’s trends, as well as a mirror of their trend-setting collections, couturiers’ fragrances echo the codes of haute couture: high standards, daring and splendor… with a pinch of olfactory outrageousness.
“I created this perfume to dress every woman in a trail of desire and to see bursting from her small bottle all my dresses” Christian Dior
Fragrance is worn in the same places as jewelry: neck, wrists, ears, décolleté. So it’s only natural that jewelers began to create olfactory gems bearing their name.
To each their own vision of luxury. By designing a fragrance that bears their name, life-style creators agree to share the spirit of their brand with all those who wear it.
To charm, bewitch and seduce. These are the missions of the fragrances created by lingerie brands, bringing variety, the spice of life, and awakening fragrant desires.
“A woman should wear perfume everywhere she expects to be kissed” Coco Chanel
From the time they first appeared, sportswear fragrances have carried the colors and values of sports: escape, freedom and team spirit, which have been translated into olfactory terms through a quest for a sense of well-being, freshness and relaxation.