Poiret,
Paul Poiret. He was a very famous fashion designer from the twentieth century.
He was known because he freed the woman’s body from the corset but he was
also the first one to create his own perfume in the fashion industry. That
precision may sound absurd but it is essential since nowadays, fashion and
perfumery are almost inseparable. When Poiret created his Rosine Perfumes in
1911, he innovates: at that time, fashion and perfumery belong to two very
different worlds.
I
discovered Poiret’s perfumer side and his bottles of perfume while reading Fashion:
The Century of the Designers, 1900-1999 by Charlotte Seeling and I’ve
fallen for them. That is also when I understood the importance of a bottle of perfume
for a designer. The bottle is the perfume’s outfit; it gives the perfume a
certain style, the designer’s style. As, it is suggested by the name of his
perfume “Nuit de Chine” (Chinese Night), Poiret’s style is definitely the
Orient; the Orient was fashionable at that time thanks to Diaghilev’s Russian
Ballet and Leon Baskt’s costumes. Nuit de Chine’s bottle is made of glass and is
reminiscent of a Chinese opium box with a black glass key cap. It is also
important to notice on that bottle the rings made of blue Bakelite which was a
new material created in 1909. By choosing that material, Poiret shows that he
is above all a designer at a time when high fashion is making its debut and
couturiers are looking for new kinds of fabrics to better their designs. It is
the same thing here for that bottle.
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Nuit de Chine
|
If Poiret
was a pioneer among his fellow designers to take interest in perfumery, Coco
Chanel indubitably managed to make her mark in that field thanks to her perfume
N°5. The bottle is very simple, minimalist, geometric, sober, yet elegant. All
those adjectives could also be used for Coco Chanel herself, and that is what
differentiates her from Poiret. N°5 is Chanel, not the brand but its designer.
Unlike Poiret, Chanel EMBODIES her perfume.
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N°5
|
“For those
who are addicted to Yves Saint Laurent”, that is the signature of the perfume
which smells and is shaped like scandal. I will once again say Poiret’s name! It
is again the Orient, and again the opium, as if that region of the world and
that drug still fascinated the imaginary of the fashion designers and the
perfumers. It is then not surprising that YSL chose the Japanese inro as his perfume’s case. This little
object was used to hold wax seals as well as prohibited substances like opium.
With Nuit de Chine, Poiret only suggested; YSL did more, he produced with Opium
a perfume that creates an addiction to those who use it as well as those who
smell it; as if one had to be seduced by his own perfume first before seducing others.
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Inro from the 19th century
|
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Opium
|
More than
the scent, it seems like the bottle makes the perfume; what do you think? As
for me, I may be talking about how I love bottles of perfume but it is ironic
that the perfume I use has absolutely nothing charming or enchanting. It is
simple and the bottle is not as elegant as
Chanel N°5’s. I am talking about Yves Rocher’s coconut perfume! I would
tackle the subject now but I think I am going to leave it for another article
since, just like the bottle, a perfume also has to seduce!
Shug'A'Very
(translated from French by Absolute B.)
So beautiful all bottles!
ReplyDeleteI think CHANEL No.5 is No.1!!!!
Thank you for your comment on my post!
I am glad you came twice to Japan!
Akiko from Japan,
http://kimonosnack.blogspot.com
Hrm, I actually rarely wear any type of scent, although I do have some excellent cologne from Kenneth Cole.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I had read about Paul Poiret and (of course) Chanel No. 5 (my fragrance of preference). Your blog is off to a great start!
ReplyDeletexx PvdH
www.ThePvdHJournal.com
(found you through IFB!)
Hi Absolute B.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by my blog.
Love this post.
Haven't finished my piece about perfume and this is great material.
Have a great weekend!
Joy xxx
Very interesting post! Thank you for making the time to write it! :)
ReplyDeleteXoXo
Plami
http://fashion-thrill.blogspot.com/
Very interesting. Love this post
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I agree that perfumes are the best representation of a fashion label. But the thing is, being that perfumes make up the highest percentage of profits for just about any label, they kind of have to be. Perfumes are often a person's first introduction to an expensive label being that not everybody is able to purchase a Chanel bag or a Kenzo dress whenever they do so wish, but almost anybody can purchase Chanel no.5 or Flower by Kenzo off a shelf at a department store. It's basically a very clever marketing strategy.
ReplyDeleteYour native heart : Thanks for taking the time to write such a constructive comment. I absolutely agree with you about the fact that behind perfumes there is a very clever marketing strategy. But as for me eventhough these fashion brand perfumes as a first introduction to expensive label, I wouldn't spend a penny for them, mainly because perfumes have to be consumed (spending a hundred of euros for a small bottle of perfume is so unlike me)and finally because most of the time I can't hardly bear their odor, there is too much things mixed in them. So basically, I would prefer working and buy a vintage Chanel or Kenzo dress because I know it will last. I probably have this point of view because I succeeded in finding my perfume and it is cheap! :D
ReplyDeleteShug'A'Very
I'm a bit of a perfume addict, so I feel compelled to reply. I don't really pay attention to the bottle of a perfume. There's some beautiful design out there and I definitely notice the nice ones, but I'll never buy a perfume because it has a nice bottle (some girls/women actually do this) or vice versa: not buy it because it looks dreadful. For instance, I have Si Lolita, and I think the bottle is super kitsch. It's really not my thing. I also have a Body Shop perfume I really love, and the bottle is just cheap plastic.
ReplyDeleteIt feels very strange and unnatural to me that perfume has been degraded to a marketing instrument. A lot of 'designer' perfumes nowadays are developed under licenses by the same companies that design the smell of your cleaning products. Chanel and Hermès are an exception to this, they still have their own 'nez'. That's why I'm more drawn to niche perfumes. They're more daring, both in smell and design.
@Shophopper : First of all thanks a lot for your comment. I was really happy when seeing your answer as you gave us your own point of view about perfume.
ReplyDeleteTo answer you, I also don't pay attention to the bottle of perfume because since I am 12 I use the same! So for me perfume bottles is just an esthetical thing, If I could I will collect them to decorate my room, so I cannot not pay attention to the bottles for this particular reason. But still the scent is much more important for me than the bottle, as in my opinion it has to embody me.
About the marketing of perfume, I would say that it is like that also in fashion and as these two worlds are linked this is something that you barely can avoid, except the cases you mentioned with Hermès and Chanel. But I think the marketing in perfume changed a bit in these last years, it is not a question of bottle but more a question of who will be the next image of the perfume, don't you think so? Keira Knightley, Audrey Tautou, Jared Leto, Vincent Cassel, Charlize Theron etc...are all names that we relate to perfumes now, as if the bottle and its content weren't enough to seduce people.
Shug'A'Very from Incognito
Oh yes, fashion powerhouses have discovered the power of celebrities and they're here to stay. I don't really mind - marketing will be marketing, and it has accounted for some beautiful commercials. It always puzzles me when I notice this kind of thing works, though. Just like there are some women who buy perfumes for the bottle, there are women who buy perfumes for the celebrity connected to it. I love Liv Tyler but I would never ever buy Very Irresistible just because she is the face of it.
ReplyDeleteYour articles are really fit authorized and incomparable.
ReplyDeletebest smelling perfume women
You've touched upon a fantastic topic. As a consumer and lover of perfumes.... I do have a thing or two to say. The thing is it was different age when Poiret and Coco Chanel launched their perfumes. It felt like pure passion towards fragrances. That is the reason you can still see the embodiment of the designer or their work in the fragrance. Becoming iconic was natural.
ReplyDeleteToday I see, every celebrity (not only designers) have their perfumes. Out of which very small percentage would have been made with equal passion as maybe Coco designed her fragrance and the packaging. The result hence is average. Though here I want to mention Lady Gaga since she definitely, in my view, put in some work in her perfume. The fact that it was the first black perfume and the bottle too is very Gaga. What is not very Gaga is the fragrance, not as groundbreaking as you would imagine (I use it)
Lastly, I feel many of us look for perfumes to extend our personalities. We realte to fragrances as if they were our signatures.... so basically on a deep level... a perfume is not just a fragrance.It could be a lifestyle, could be about who you are or want to be. That is the basis of existence of any fashion brand.... and hence any "fashion perfume" too I guess. And the bottle is just the part of that whole package or dream if you will.
Swati @ The Creative Bent
Hello Swati,
DeleteFinally answering your comment after so much time !
I do find perfume bottles fascinating but as for the fragrance in itself I rarely appreciate them but it is certainly because I already have my own perfume that I am using since some good 14 years..the day they will stop it I guess I will cry ahahaha.
I agree with you. The fact to create a perfume for a celebrity is generally a good way to sell, a marketing strategy more than an act of really wanting to create a fragrance and a packaging with an identity. As for Lady Gaga I can't tell you about the fragrance since I didn't smell it but it seems like she really participated in the whole process since the perfume looking at the advert and the bottle do really embodies who she is as an artist.
On this I am totally with you, that's one of the reason why it is impossible for me changing my perfume. My mom tried to make me change it many times saying there are perfumes for different occasions and that is was normal to change your scent every now and then but I just can't. People associate me so much with my perfume, it really is a part of me though like I said my perfume is not from a fashion brand. It's Yves Rocher, it costs 8€, has no fancy design and it is fine by me like that.
I think I see what you mean a fashion brand embodies a lifestyle and so is a perfume, so by buying a scent from a Maison, someone can feel nearer to the person he/she aspires to be or already is. Interesting point of view as always !
See you !
You know there is absolutely nothing wrong in not changing your perfume now and then. In fact, why I change it is to finally reach a perfume that I would never want to change. A signature scent that people and you yourself associate with. If you have already found that... And that too 14 years ago... That is sheer luck. Nobody said it has to be an expensive brand... It just has to be made for your skin and your pheromones :)
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThis is the best plastic perfume bottles with other necessary products.