Nez - The olfactory magazine - N° 16

FASHION & FRAGRANCE
Intimately bound since their first encounter over a century ago, fashion and fragrance share more than a common history: How does the relationship between couture and scent unfold?

The match between fashion and fragrance, more than a century ago, sparked a revolution in the industry. The era saw the rise of couturiers-perfumers whose creations were conceived to complement the style of each couture house. The clothes, the scents and their boxes form a coherent and strategic whole, perfumery representing a lucrative activity that allows consumers to access part of the dream of haute couture. Thus, most of today's international mainstream brands are associated with fashion designers, jewelers or leather goods brands.How has this relationship evolved and how is it organized nowadays? Are dresses and perfumes constructed the same way? If Jersey, Habit rouge, La Petite Robe noire and Grey Flannel borrow from clothing, do fabrics – new, old, leather or sportswear – have olfactory messages for us? Perfumery, like couture, follows the zeitgeist and reflects the metamorphoses of its times. But do fragrances echo the same rhythm as fashion trends? And isn't valuing great classics finally the best way of never being out of style?