1905. A protest march in St. Petersburg is put down by the armed forces, killing over 1,000 people, and leading to a chain of violence and revolt throughout Russia. In India, over 20,000 loose their life in an earthquake. Albert Einstein formulates the theory of special relativity, and states the law of mass-energy conservation. In the French town of Granville, a boy by the name of Christian Dior is born.
Its in this time frame, a good 100 years ago, that modernity makes its entrance in perfumery. While L.T. Piver continues to produce traditional florals like Azuréa, Rosiris and Floramya, François Coty is making a name for himself as a master of synthetic ingredients: with his use of aldehydes, vanilla, and synthesized carnation, he creates a whole new benchmark in perfumery. In 1905 he launches LOrigan, the first fragrance to contain ionone: its an instant success. In that same year he teams up with René Lalique, who creates a series of perfume bottles that look unlike anything else on the market: again, Coty is on a winning streak. Meanwhile, on the Champs-Elysées, Guerlain is trying to lure a new clientele with Mouchoir de Monsieur (1904), today an undisputed classic. Their feminine releases of 1905, Avril en Fleurs and Aï Loe, will barely make it into the history books. A new kid in town has just opened his doors on the Rue de la Paix: 1905 marks Carons release of Bel Amour and London-Paris, the latter being conceived as a tribute to the British-French alliance sealed in 1904. Caron is not a household name among the Parisian beau monde yet, but its success is slowly coming in sight.
100 years have gone by. I look forward to try LOrigan, as I would desperately want to know what beauty smelled like in those days. But Im also aware, alas, that reformulations will give a distorted impression of what the original was like. Perhaps I need a trip in the Time Machine. Or simply a ticket to the Osmothèque in Versailles.
Avenue des Champs-Elysées, around 1905
http://www.carfree.com/postcard/post...ris-champs.jpg
Its in this time frame, a good 100 years ago, that modernity makes its entrance in perfumery. While L.T. Piver continues to produce traditional florals like Azuréa, Rosiris and Floramya, François Coty is making a name for himself as a master of synthetic ingredients: with his use of aldehydes, vanilla, and synthesized carnation, he creates a whole new benchmark in perfumery. In 1905 he launches LOrigan, the first fragrance to contain ionone: its an instant success. In that same year he teams up with René Lalique, who creates a series of perfume bottles that look unlike anything else on the market: again, Coty is on a winning streak. Meanwhile, on the Champs-Elysées, Guerlain is trying to lure a new clientele with Mouchoir de Monsieur (1904), today an undisputed classic. Their feminine releases of 1905, Avril en Fleurs and Aï Loe, will barely make it into the history books. A new kid in town has just opened his doors on the Rue de la Paix: 1905 marks Carons release of Bel Amour and London-Paris, the latter being conceived as a tribute to the British-French alliance sealed in 1904. Caron is not a household name among the Parisian beau monde yet, but its success is slowly coming in sight.
100 years have gone by. I look forward to try LOrigan, as I would desperately want to know what beauty smelled like in those days. But Im also aware, alas, that reformulations will give a distorted impression of what the original was like. Perhaps I need a trip in the Time Machine. Or simply a ticket to the Osmothèque in Versailles.
Avenue des Champs-Elysées, around 1905
http://www.carfree.com/postcard/post...ris-champs.jpg
