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To reach the position of International Training Director at Lancôme is a magnificent achievement. To head up their Middle-Eastern expansion, launching in 22 countries and effecting a three-fold increase in the skincare business is incredible. If you achieved all of this as a 21 year old woman in 1973 you can only be Laurice Rahme. From her early roots buying and selling antiques in Paris, to her dynamic performance at Lancôme and beyond to the birth of Bond No.9, Laurice Rahme is clearly a driven and empowered individual.

With so much to know I want to start at the beginning. Where did Laurice's illustrious career in cosmetics begin? How did these early experiences influence and lead her to become a creator of fine fragrance heading up her own company? Perhaps her time with 17 billion dollar company L'Oréal, parent company of Lancôme, is a good place to begin. “My international experience with L'Oréal was the beginning of a long career in beauty. Being recruited at such a young age by a leading French beauty company with a “pioneer” spirit in introducing French beauty to the world has taught me about flexibility, worldly cultures, and provided a deep understanding of men and woman who come from different social or economical backgrounds. It gave me experience that has deep, cultural meaning.”

I wonder how working in places as diverse as Kuwait and New York has affected Laurice's outlook? “My extensive Middle East market experience, learning from the best leaders in the business combined has taught me invaluable lessons. I've learned to never assume that we are all alike. We have different tastes for foods, clothing, colors, for relationships, etc. Beauty products must be adapted to our diverse tastes. While being in charge of markets like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Dubai- I was called up to New York in the late seventies to open the first chain of Lancôme spas in the U.S. which is a contrast with the middle-eastern culture. However, it is these contrasts that make individuals rich, inspired, and free. Certainly making people free to create, free to think out of the box, and free to embrace everyone.”

Having spent time in the cosmetics sector in general, Laurice decided to become involved with fragrance specifically when she met Annick Goutal. “I decided to bring the company to the U.S and implemented the first, successful and upscale niche fragrances in the U.S. We went from a billion dollar corporate setting to a half a million-boutique brand from Paris. It was certainly a contrast that required much entrepreneurship, flexibility, and deep faith. We had to have faith that the American consumers were ready to slowly abandon the designer fragrance world and finally appreciate the origin of perfumes, which is a perfumer's perfume .”

It was in the eighties that Laurice became the President of the US division of Annick Goutal. Her unique blend of spirit and determination saw her refuse to open accounts with retailers who would not take the whole line. There would be no small corner of a fragrance counter for Annick Goutal's fragrances and skincare as Laurice insisted on miniature in-store boutiques, complete with the luxurious furnishings that people had come to associate with the Annick Goutal image. Her determination to remain true to the Annick Goutal ethos, and not offer consumers a watered-down version, paid off and the U.S. branch of Annick Goutal became a roaring success.

Having built the U.S. arm of Annick Goutal into a multi-million dollar concern, where did Rahme go from here? “I decided to market another niche brand from Paris called Creed. I was no longer a partner but became the hundred percent sole owner of the official Creed USA distribution, called Laurice & Co. As always, I believed in the brand and financed this venture myself. I decided this time that I could not just open specialty stores but I also opened and financed three stores in New York City. I selected two locations on Madison Avenue and one on Bond Street with the concept of a salon. This concept includes a tea bar library and antique bottles- just like fragrances were sold in Paris at the beginning of the 19 th century.”

What inspired the change of direction from fragrance distributor to creator? “It is the Bond Street store that inspired me to create a brand out of our address, Bond No.9. Yet, it is the events of September 11 that motivated me to make New York smell good again and take on the ambitious project of creating a fragrance for each of its neighborhoods (this was done for Paris, my native city in the 20 th century with a dozen fragrances made by a handful of companies created for Paris neighborhoods). Now, in the 21 st century it is New York's turn to become the capital of fragrance.”

Bond No. 9's flagship store (above)

I wondered if Laurice would give us an insight into the particular aspects of a place that she attempts to capture and what elements of a neighbourhood inspire her? “The city is endlessly renewing itself to keep up with our dynamic New York neighborhoods that change every other year. It is that spirit of that specific neighborhood we work on with passion to capture. That could not be done if the grand masters of perfumery like Maurice Roucel, Francis Camail, Michel Almairac wouldn't have accepted to participate in this new perfumery movement that we decided to launch for New York.” Of future neighbourhoods that she wishes to translate into fragrances Laurice answers simply but definitely: “Yes, there is a place that I am passionate about and I must do: It is Brooklyn.”

With bountiful experience of cosmetics in a wider sense are there any plans for a Bond No.9 skin/bodycare range? “We are developing a candle to match each scent. We are also in the process of developing a new and unique range of body care products.”

Bond No.9's latest creation: West Side

Of course the final word has to be about fragrance itself. Here Laurice tells us about Bond No.9's latest release, West Side. “Our latest fragrance embodies the tight connection between music and fragrance. We are talking about notes, melodies, vibrations, emotions and we felt that we wanted to dedicate that to the West Side of New York. The West Side is the envy of the rest of the world because of the well-known grand institutions comprised of Lincoln Center, The Met, Carnegie Hall, Tin Pan Alley, and The Cotton Club. It is not only an extraordinary cultural life where performers like Arturo Toscanini, Charlie Parker, and Paul Simon lived or performed but a physical place as well. It's a real neighborhood where all the artistic population of New York has existed over a few decades and have created masterpieces. We thought it is only natural for Bond to honor them.”

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