History of the Perfume Industry

Fragrance is a way of communicating without words, it can make us think, feel or react without ever knowing why, a major fact in the development of a new product or environment. Fragrance evokes a memory which evokes an emotional response leading to a reaction. In honour of my latest fragrance brief I have taken it upon my self to take you through a few points on the history of british fragrance, taken from a recent lecture held by guest lecturer Karen Gilbert (http://www.karengilbert.co.uk).

1920'S

. Emancipation

. Coco Chanel- Chanel No5 (use of alder hides)

. Paul Poiret- first to create fragrance

. Both still available today

1930's/40's

. Hollywood Glamour

. Wartime Europe

. Perfume a luxury

. 'Femme' figure of Mae West

1950's-1970's

. Mass marketing

. Estee Lauder- Youth Dew- made perfume accessible 

. Revlon Charlie-  Affordable

. Charlie magazine ads from the 70's featured the first woman wearing trousers in a perfume ad

. 60's a 70's mens fragrances 'Old Spice' 

1980's

. Money & Power

. Dior- Poison

1990's

. Zen & Spirituality

. New era for fashion fragrance

. Thierry Mugler- Angel- if made today it wouldn't sell

2000's

. The Cult of celebrity

. less about fragrance more about merchandising and branding

. Other streams- Fashion/ Perfume

. Lady Gaga- Fame- 13 million bottles first year

. Niche & High end luxe

. Kilian

Karen ended the lecture by stating 'Are you Vanilla or Pistachio?' Vanilla being a fragrance that no-one is either going to love nor hate, being neutral and appealing to everyone or Pistachio (the marmite effect) you're either going to love it or hate it, only appealing to certain consumers.