GUERLAIN

In 1828 Pierre François Pascal Guerlain founded in Paris GUERLAIN house, that more than 190 years later is still at the forefront. Five generations of perfumers have marked the history of perfume until today.

Guerlain has been a landmark for generations both in perfume and beauty care, currently set trends with their creations.

GUERLAIN - Heritage

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MAISON...

The House of Guerlain was founded in 1828, when Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain opened his perfume shop at 42 rue de Rivoli in Paris. As founder he was the first perfumer of the house, and composed and manufactured fragrances with the help of his two sons, Aimé and Gabriel. In 1853 Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain composed the creation of Eau de Cologne Impériale (1853) for the French Emperor Napoleon III and his Spanish-French wife, Empress Eugénie. Fragrance that reaches our days.

SECOND GENERATION...

With the death of Pierre-François in 1864, the house was left in the hands of his sons Aimé Guerlain and Gabriel Guerlain. Gabriel took on the role of manager running and expanding the house, and Aimé became the master perfumer. Guerlain thus began a long tradition according to which the position of master perfumer was passed down through the Guerlain family. As a second generation Guerlain perfumer, Aimé was the creator of many compositions. Today we can enjoy Eau de Cologne du Coq (1894) and Jicky (1889) considered the first modern "perfume" since it introduced the first synthetic ingredients.

THIRD GENERATION...

The business was passed on to Gabriel Guerlain's sons: Jacques Guerlain and Pierre Guerlain. Jacques, Aimé's nephew, became Guerlain's third master perfumer and was the author of many of the House's classics. Among them we can highlight: Mouchoir de Monsieur (1904), Après L'Ondée (1906), L'Heure Bleue (1912), Mitsouko (1919) a chypre fragrance, a historical reference for many other compositions, Shalimar (1925) considered the fragrance that gave rise to the oriental olfactory family and Vol de Nuit (1933). Jacques composed his last perfume with the help of his grandson, the then 18-year-old Jean-Paul Guerlain.

FOURTH GENERATION...

Jean-Paul Guerlain was the last master perfumer of the Guerlain family, a grandson of Jacques. He created different fragrances among which Vétiver (1959) considered one of the benchmark vetivers and Habit Rouge (1965) an avant-garde oriental men's fragrance for the time, Chamade (1969), and Nahéma (1979) could be highlighted.

THE GUERLAIN HOUSE IS NO LONGER FAMILIAR...

The Guerlain family sold the company to the luxury goods group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy - LVMH in 1994. Jean-Paul Guerlain remained as in-house perfumer until 2002, although other perfumers were also involved to compose fragrances for Guerlain. In May 2008, Thierry Wasser was appointed Guerlain's in-house perfumer. Wasser, is a Swiss perfumer who used to work for other perfume houses. Wasser will work closely with Sylvaine Delacourte, Guerlain's Artistic Director during an important period for the maison.