How have fashion designers became interested in the perfumery universe?
- Eloïse Niklaus
- Nov 15, 2020
- 5 min read
Perfume and haute-couture have had a common history since the beginning of the 20th century. The links between the two universes are so strong today that it is difficult to dissociate fashion from fragrances. If these links seem obvious at first sight since perfume is nowadays positioned as a real fashion accessory, this was not always the case and the two worlds used to be well dissociated. The relations between these two worlds can also appear as rather paradoxical, as trends pass, while the perfume remains. Between the rise of modern perfumery at the end of the 19th century and its takeover by the world of couture, it took almost half a century. Let's go back up the thread of this passionate history.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, compositions and other perfumed products were sold by grocers and apothecaries. It is from the 19th century, during the rise of modern perfumery, that perfumers entered the scene. Before the beginning of the 1900s, no haberdashery or cloth merchant had devoted themselves to the art of perfume. The first couturier to have really worked the perfume was Paul Poiret in 1911, with the creation of a specialized company, "Le parfum de Rosine", in homage to his daughter. The success was important, but the mistake of the couturier having chosen to put forward the first name of his daughter instead of his own did not allow him to really capitalize on the notoriety and the image associated with his fashion house.
The famous Rosine, however, opened the way for other great names of couture in the 1920s, among them Gabrielle Chanel, who in 1921 launched her iconic fetish number, N°5, saturated with priceless flowers and daring aldehydes. Having fully understood the stakes of this diversification, Coco Chanel have focused on the universe and values of the brand, already well established in the minds of customers, imbuing her creation with Chanel's DNA: audacity of the juice, sobriety of the bottle in black, beige and white. For Gabrielle Chanel, "There is no elegance possible in a perfume airlock. It is the invisible, ultimate and unforgettable accessory". She thus gave the kick-start to an enthusiasm with no return.
Other fashion houses later lent themselves to the game, such as Jean Patou, Jeanne Lanvin or Worth, in turn creating fragrances that would mark the era and allow them to open up their universe to a much wider clientele and no longer simply intended for a very elitist clientele.
Between 1919 and 1930, nearly 800 perfumes were created. The numbers exploded and competition between perfume and fashion houses raged. Jean Patou launched 20 fragrances in 10 years, Guerlain launched about fifty.
At the beginning of the 1940s, perfume houses still dominated sales. But from the second half of the century, the trend reversed: designer perfumes became widespread, to the point of marginalizing traditional perfumers.
The post-war world saw the multiplication of perfumed creations by the major fashion houses, many of which were born at that time. The desire for entrepreneurship and creativity was even more apparent after the end of the conflict, and perfume was the subject of a strong revival of interest. For these new couturiers, perfume was a necessary step to quickly diversify the activity of their brands. Thus Pierre Balmain took the plunge in 1945, as did Carven, Givenchy and Christian Dior (unveiling Miss Dior in 1947, the same day as the fashion show of his first collection) in the following years. The two worlds are therefore closely linked. As Christian Dior explains, "Perfume is the finishing touch to a dress. A perfume is an open door to a rediscovered universe. That's why I became a perfumer, so that all I have to do is uncork a bottle to see all my dresses and every woman I dress leaves behind a trail of desire."
From the 1970s onwards, fashion and perfume became more international and more accessible. The haute-couture perfume freed itself from codes with the advent of ready-to-wear, with brands such as Cacharel, Hugo Boss and Lacoste.
Always remaining synonymous with elegance and refinement, perfume became more popular to stick to the new habits of the general public and was even adopted by cosmetic brands. The sumptuous extracts are desacralized and finance haute couture, with products for the general public, still beautifully scratched.
At the beginning of the 90s, some brands tried for the first time ephemeral creations with summer juices, responding to the needs of women and men becoming less and less loyal to their fragrances and enjoying changing fragrances according to the rhythm of the seasons. In 1993, Escada dared to combine its summer collection with an ephemeral fragrance, Chiffon Sorbet, which was a great success. Even Yves Saint Laurent started to work on it, with beautiful variations, including the current version of the Paris fragrance, called Jardins Romantiques. Demystified, perfume becomes a luxury to be enjoyed, with each season offering its train of attractive new products.
"Making a perfume or a dress is the same thing. It's the same universe, both artistic and industrial"
More playful, perfume becomes accessible to all, and its connection with the world of fashion becomes so close that it could be said to be conjugal. The designer Lolita Lempicka declared in 2007, on the 10th anniversary of the launch of her first fragrance, "I love perfume as much as fashion: it has always made me dream and I know nothing better to testify to a brand's identity". For Alber Elbaz, Artistic Director of Lanvin's women's collections, "Making a perfume or a dress is the same thing. It's the same universe, both artistic and industrial".
Since 1920 and consistently throughout the 20th century, fashion houses have gradually imposed themselves on the fragrance market. The concept of fragrances has truly contributed to the fortune of luxury brands. Between visible and imperceptible, tactile and olfactory, it constitutes, along with fashion, the panoply of seduction for everyone, allowing the brands to assert their identity. But unlike a seasonal collection of clothes, perfume is made to travel through times and trends. Maintaining strong links between perfumery and fashion is essential for fashion houses. Today, perfume is indeed an accessible luxury and a real gateway leading straight to the world of brands. Not everyone can afford a haute-couture dress, but almost everyone can fall in love with a perfume, which is a luxury item that is part of the history of the House: from the communication, to the shape of the bottle, to the choice of a muse, everything reflects the idea of luxury and the image of the brand. Perfume therefore plays a double game that is essential for haute-couture brands in a world where everything evolves quickly, allowing them to stop time thanks to timeless olfactory creations and to appeal to a different clientele while ensuring high profitability. Initially a simple accessory, the fragrance now carries the brand over time, while fashion is their most beautiful showcase.
By Eloïse Niklaus, 08/11/2020
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