Parfums Jean Desprez was located at 17 rue de la Paix, Paris.
TIMELINE AT A GLANCE:
- 1898 - Jean Desprez born
- 1922 - Jean Desprez became the chief perfumer of Parfums Millot
- 1925 - Jean Desprez created Crepe de Chine for Parfums Millot
- 1939 - Jean Desprez creates own company Parfums Desprez
- 1939 - launches own perfumes Étourdissant, Grand Dame, Jardanel, Shéhérazade and Votre Main.
- 1947 - launch of 40 Love
- 1949 - launch of Éscarmouche and Nuit de Versailles
- 1958 - created Debutante de Versailles for Daggett & Ramsdell
- 1961 - created two perfumes for Dorothy Perkins: Roses of Gold & Roses of Platinum
- 1962 - launch of Bal A Versailles
- 1973 - Jean Desprez dies, son Denis Desprez takes over company, daughter Marie-Celine Grenier creates perfumes
- 1973 - Jardanel reformulated and relaunched
- 1977 - Parfums Jean Desprez owned by Alfin Fragrances, Inc.
- 1980 - launch of Versailles Pour Homme
- 1983 - Shéhérazade reformulated and relaunched
- 1989 - launch of Révolution à Versailles
- 1994 - Parfums Jean Desprez owned by Inter Parfums Paris (Subsidiary of Jean Philippe Fragrances, Inc)
- 1996 - Parfums Jean Desprez owned by Parlux Fragrances, Inc.
- 1998 - Parfums Jean Desprez owned by Genesis International Marketing Corp.
The parfumerie was established by Jean Desprez (b1898 - d1973). Jean Desprez was the great-grandson of Felix Millot, founder of Parfums Millot. After the death of F. Millot in 1873, his wife took over the company and appointed her two sons, Felix Dubois and Henri Desprez as co-directors of the company.
Henri's son, Jean, who was to follow in his father's footsteps to join the company, apprenticed with Givaudan's chief perfumer Marius Reboul, one of the world's most talented perfumer. In 1922, at 24, he became the chief perfumer of Parfums Millot.
"When my father started working, he started with Millot in 1920," said Jean Desprez's son, Denis in 1975. "He was a nose, as we say, a master perfumer, and he created Crepe de Chine perfume. That was in 1928 [1925]."
Other perfumes were made for Parfums Millot, Altitude and Bois Precieux, a sandalwood, rose, musk, civet and vetiver composition, in 1933 and Recital, a light, floral parfum with notes of iris, fruit and leather in 1939.
Drug and Cosmetic Industry, 1938:
"Jean Desprez Returns To Paris. Jean Desprez, managing director of F. Millot, Paris, returned home on the Ille de France, March 18, after having spent ten days with his American representative, F. Millot, Inc., New York."
"In 1942, for some reasons, my father resigned from Millot and established his own company. I worked with my father ever since 1948, with a short interruption due to illness. My father was always talking about perfumes, and that was really his life, you know," said Denis Desprez. In 1977, he said "In about 1940, because of a misunderstanding within the family, he resigned and set up his own business."
He resumed making perfume, but then concentrated on three of four special fragrances and claimed Queen Farah of Iran, Queen Elizabeth II, actresses Elizabeth Taylor and Marlene Dietrich were among his clients. Jean was already a top class perfumer by profession and then employed Paul Mergier to design the packaging for his products, and his friend, the sculptor, Leon Leyritz to design the bottles.
Leon Leyritz designed the exquisite Sevres porcelain hand bottles decorated with roses and foliage for the perfume Votre Main in 1939. Other Sevres porcelain bottles were created for the classic floral chypre perfume Etourdissant and the floriental perfume Grand Dame both from 1939 and later, the limited edition Janusette flacon for Bal a Versailles in 1969, housed in a red tooled Moroccan leather presentation case.
Baccarat also supplied bottles for Jean Desprez, most notably the second bottle for Étourdissant, the flacon cut and polished using a now defunct technique.
The Bermudian - Volumes 17-18, 1946:
"Perfume...A wide selection from $3.79-$188.80. But especially suitable for the festive season are Votre Main, Etourdissant and Jardanel, the perfumes of Jean Desprez, exquisitely presented in white with trimmings of Xmas red and green, from $8.00 to $78.00. Rare and reasonable are these perfumes of Jean Desprez who was, until recently, a director and chemist at Millot. Don't be a 'Sheep', be a leader-one of the first to use these new fascinating scents."
The ending of the war heralded a new beginning for French perfume companies and Jean Desprez envisioned a brighter, livelier fragrance. Thus in 1947, Jean Desprez created his only unisex fragrance, named 40 Amour (40 Love), a sporty fragrance capturing the spirit of tennis. 40 Love contained pine oil, tarragon, oakmoss and sun ripened hay, plus a secret extract said to give off "the frail insistent smell of pure linen drying on a lawn." Spanish sculptor Juan Palas designed special trophies for the tennis and golf tournament held during the launch party of the fragrance. Jean Desprez said that 40 Love was equally successful with the girls.
The return of luxury bore the aptly named perfume Escarmouche in 1949 and it was presented in a stunning sword shaped crystal flacon, topped with a Sevres porcelain stopper and silky black tassel.
Jean Desprez composed two fragrances for Dorothy Perkins. The perfumes, Roses of Gold and Roses of Platinum were introduced in 1961. The perfume is dispensed via aerosol. Two ounces of perfume are packed in a refillable metal case supplied by Bridgeport metal Goods. Uncoated glass bottle in metal case is made by Foster Forbes Glass. Co., Marion, Ind. Wheaton Glass Co., Millville, N.J.. supplied the coated refill bottle . Powr - Pak, Inc. of Bridgeport, Conn, is the loader, and the B-18F metered valve is by VCA, Inc. Bridgeport, Conn.
The return of luxury bore the aptly named perfume Escarmouche in 1949 and it was presented in a stunning sword shaped crystal flacon, topped with a Sevres porcelain stopper and silky black tassel.
L'Amour de l'art, 1950:
"Escarmouche (Jean Desprez) - Cheerfulness, effrontery, sweetness, such are the accents of this fragrant aubade: jasmine, wood, citrus zest seem to resonate like the pizzicatti accompanying some 'commedia dell'arte' or Scaramouche would rhyme with Escarmouche.Etourdissant (Jean Desprez) - Extraordinary, unexpected, wonderful...This chypre perfume contains a strong assex note of gardenia and amber but which is attenuated in the velvet of moss.Grande Dame (Jean Desprez) - Accompanied by spicy scents, gardenia and crimson clover seem to improvise their variations. In a word, this great modern lady is 'on trend'.Votre Main (Jean Desprez) - One hand remains still on the keyboard while the other hands you a rose. This is how Léon Leyritz, confidant and friend of Ravel, composed the bottle. It contains a blend of fruity wood, orange, plum and zest; two extreme notes boldly linked by oak moss."
Foreign Commerce Weekly, Volume 44, 1951:
"Parfums Jean Desprez, manufacturer of perfumes and cosmetics, 17 rue de la Paix Paris 2, wishes to license a United States firm to manufacture perfumes, colognes, lavender water, beauty aids, and lipsticks, using French firm's brand name. Current World Trade Directory Report being prepared."
As a tribute to the elegant American and French debutantes, the newborn belles of the ball, Jean Desprez created Debutante de Versailles, a limited edition perfume exclusively created for Daggett & Ramsdell. This opulent composition made up of over 300 ingredients was to become the infamous Bal a Versailles perfume in 1962, when it was offered to the public for the first time. The crystal bottles for Bal a Versailles featured an image of the Fragonard painting, Bal a Versailles on the label.
He said that in launching the fragrance, he faced two difficulties. The first was that this new blend demanded such precious ingredients that it looked like being the most expensive in the world. The second difficulty was that every possible name had long been registered by "title authors" of imagination, who then sell their tags to desperate perfumers. "It was the famous debutante ball in the Palace of Versailles, back in 1959 that gave me the name I had been waiting for," admitted Jean Desprez. He said that no one else had registered "Bal a Versailles," so that solved the second problem.
The first problem remained unsolved. It was at the time, at $39.90 per 1.25 ounces, the most expensive perfume in the world, just topping Jean Patou's classic, Joy, who for years, held the coveted title. According to an inflation calculator, Desprez's new perfume would cost $393.61 per one and a quarter ounce today in 2023's money.
Desprez intentionally made the perfume hard to find. He confessed that it was due to the cost and rarity of some ingredients and to demand from abroad. He added that to keep down sales, he has never advertised. "Anyway, price is irrelevant," he said. "Cheap scent costs more because you must use more. It cannot hold or cling because the ingredients that fix our perfume are even more expensive than those that give off the delicate fragrance. Actually, composing a perfume is quite a bit like cooking. And just as gourmets will go for caviar and goose liver, women will always go for a special perfume."
The perfume was not readily available in the United States, one generally bought the perfume in Paris, only with traveler's checks in shops specialized for tourists. The perfume was mainly exported and available in luxury shops in North and South America, and even in Japan.
Jean Desprez advised women that the most important aspect of good perfume is how you used it. He said that a quick spray and two dabs as you go through the front door is "useless" as it would strike the nostrils of those around you too strongly and won't last through the evening. Rather he said, the same quantity of perfume applied to the inside of the elbow and at the back of the knee, would maintain an aura around you. He said that the warmth of these joints, through the closeness of the arteries, "releases the perfume slowly and continuously." He said to "spray the perfume on your bare arms and thighs. To develop, a perfume needs body warmth and movement and you get that from the limbs."
However, Jean Desprez cautioned women against daubing the perfume behind their ears, a suggestion given to women for decades. "That's the worst place to put perfume. And if she dances cheek to cheek, her beau will choke on the fumes!"
His favorite technique originated in the 1920s. Flappers would spray the inside of their dresses and the linings of their coats as they went back into the closet. "Whenever a woman seems sheathed in a perfumed atmosphere that only becomes apparent when she moves, I know that she is one of the wise school who perfumes clothes, stockings and even her dressing down, to live inside a chosen scent," said Desprez. He said that some of them even spray their underwear, the insides of the gloves and their bed linens.
For the woman "on the go" - he said that eau de toilette is the "way to go" as it is midway between eau de cologne and pure parfum. "It can be added most easily to lingerie and used to spray the closets in which you keep your clothes."
He went on to say, "But the most important thing, is to discover the perfume - whether one of mine or another - that suits your personality. There is alchemy in every top-grade perfume, and magic in every woman. The art is to find the woman and the perfume that go together - and only you can do that. Once found, the right perfume will live with you - and in the memory of others. And when that happens, you may reach the stage of integration of the real perfectionists. Instead of dabbing perfume behind the ears, they put a drop on each electric light bulb around the apartment. When the lights go on, the heat sends out a final confirmation of the scent that is yours."
Although, no one other than the creative geniuses at Parfum Jean Desprez, know the entire formula for Bal a Versailles, we do know that these are definitely in the opulent mixture: Top notes are rosemary, orange blossom, mandarin orange, cassia, jasmine, rose, neroli, bergamot, Bulgarian rose and lemon; middle notes are sandalwood, patchouli, lilac, orris root, vetiver, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley and leather; base notes are tolu balsam, amber, musk, benzoin, civet, vanilla, cedar and resins.
"We used about 260 ingredients in Bal a Versailles," said Denis Desprez in 1977. He went on to explain that the ingredients used in the Desprez perfumes were of the highest quality and therefore, themselves, cost a fortune. He said that jasmine costs $3,100 per pound, this price, according to an inflation calculator would be $16,310.19 in 2023 money. It is expensive because only five and a half pounds could be grown on an acre, and it takes nine and a half pounds of flowers to produce one pound of jasmine essence. The flowers have to be handpicked at sunrise, which requires a large workforce. However, Desprez was concerned because at the time, jasmine, traditionally grown in southern France, was becoming harder and harder to come by.
The cost of labor went up and real estate developments had begun to take over the land that was once used for flower farms. Acres of fields reserved for flowers for decades were being plowed over to make way for apartment buildings. "It is more profitable to build villas than to grow flowers," sighed Desprez. "Some of the flower farmers are lured by the high prices offered by the building industry. Others, sentimental traditionists, will continue to grow flowers for the parfumers as their forefathers have been doing for generations," said Desprez.
Though jasmine was successfully grown in Italy and north Africa, problems of rising costs and disappearing fields arose in those places as well. "There are many kinds of jasmine and, like wine, there are good years and not such good years," said Desprez. Perfumers began to experiment growing jasmine in southern Africa, although Desprez predicted that in another decade or two, the same problems would arise there too. He mentioned that synthetic jasmines are under study, but he had little hope for them to replace the real thing.
"We have to rely on natural products," he said. "Synthetics can't provide a substitute for jasmine - nor for rose, civet, musk, orange blossom. They try to duplicate jasmine, and they get about 95% of the composition. The remaining 5% they are unable to discover. But that's the 5% that makes jasmine, jasmine. If there is only 1% of the formula missing, it will smell like jasmine to you and me, but it won't react properly with other fragrances."
While Parfums Jean Desprez were busy making millions off of Bal a Versailles, Parfums Millot didn't fare so well and in 1963, Parfums Millot was sold to Revillon perfumes.
After the death of Jean Desprez at the age of 73, his son Denis Desprez, who worked for the company for 25 years, took over as managing director of the company and preserved the glorious French tradition of the company. Eschewing quantity and respecting the high quality of his perfumes, he respectfully carried on his father's personal mantra: Perfume is a work of art!
"One might say that I have been in the perfume business for over 100 years," said Denis Desprez in 1976. He was referring to his family's experience in the perfume industry, over 100 years of excellence. His great-great grandmother, Madame Francoise Millot, founded the perfume house of Millot in 1836. His grandfather was president of the company, and in 1920, his father, Jean Desprez, joined the firm, where he created the successful perfume Crepe de Chine. In 1939, Jean Desprez resigned to set up his own business.
Denis Desprez said he originally joined his father's company at age 21, left for two years to attend Georgetown University and resigned in 1954 because he was "not happy." "After attending the foreign service school at Georgetown, I joined my father's company. I resigned in 1956 to seek experience in different fields with different companies. I was eight years with an Italian corporation (Olivetti) making business equipment and four years with a Dutch company in the industrial supply business "which obviously qualified me to create [the new perfume] Sheherazade, ha ha. But it broadened my business experience, and I rejoined my father in business in 1971 because of "atavism, I suppose. I am in marketing and administration."
Denis' sister, Marie-Celine Grenier took full charge of the laboratory after her father's death. She worked alongside her father as an apprentice as a child and under his guidance, the experience helped her develop her olfactory sense. "My sister, Madame Marie-Celine Grenier, is more the nose. She used to be my father's assistant. My nose is not trained enough to know if this rose is better than that. But I can tell an Egyptian from a Moroccan, Grasse or Bulgarian rose. They are all different, like a Bordeaux from France." Her responsibilities included perfume research, production, development and quality control. "My father used to say making perfume was like cooking. There was not a day that my father didn't spend at least two hours in the laboratory. When he died at the age of 73, he left extensive notes, which my sister now uses."
"Personally, I'm not a nose, unfortunately. But we still have a family nose, I would say. My sister, who used to assist my father until he died, has taken over now, and she's head of research and development at the laboratory. I am an editor more than anything. I am not an expert. In our business, one must be very humble," said Denis Desprez. When asked if he ever thought of changing careers again, he said "Why should I? This business I like, and I like it even when it was not so good, I really enjoy it."
Parfums Jean Desprez was proud of the fact that it was the only French perfumery company that did not have an agent or even an office in the United States, but in doing it, it made it necessary for Denis Deprez himself to tour the country checking out the shops and the sales. Sometimes, Marie-Celine accompanied him on promotional tours. Grenier advised women when choosing a new fragrance, do not smell a perfume directly from its bottle. Instead, she said that rubbing the fragrance on the wrists is better "because that warms the fragrance and helps the alcohol to evaporate, allowing the pure essences to linger on the skin."
When asked if women only wear perfume to attract a man, Denis Desprez replied, "To this question, my father would have said 'Nonsense!' A woman wears what she pleases. Women use it primarily for themselves and the people around them but basically for themselves because there is some narcissism in every woman. That's the reason a woman should select her own fragrance. She won't make any mistake because the fragrance of her selection will be integrated with her personality. She shouldn't let anyone around her influence her choice."
In 1973, the same year that Jean Deprez died, as a silent tribute, the chypre perfume Jardanel was relaunched in a limited edition. Its bottles bore labels suggestive of the Edwardian period, as the basic formula was originally created in 1917 by Jean Desprez. The fragrance was put on hold while he was involved with Parfums Millot. Once he left Millot, he started his own perfume company, and released the Jardanel fragrance in 1939. Its composition may not have been fully developed the first time around and was probably improved upon over the years until Jean, true to his stubborn nature, felt he had gotten it right. The fragrance Jardanel was created by Jean Desprez for Stanley Marcus of Neiman-Marcus in 1972. Jardanel's fragrance was inspired by a visit to a country estate.
Desprez described the fragrance as a "romantic, unique and sensual scent, composed of rare essences from the flower fields of Grasse and the Far East." As for the name Jardanel, he said it is a reminder of a charming old estate located in the center of France where his father Jean once visited. "He so loved the people, the place, the gardens and the house that he decided to name his perfume Jardanel so that he could keep alive the pleasant memories."
A warm, mossy blend of many bouquets, Jardanel has notes of citrus leather, myrrh, Peru balsam, vetiver and oakmoss and may have originally inspired his father's creation of Crepe de Chine. Unfortunately, Jardanel was soon discontinued after the 1970s relaunch, because the cost of reproduction was too exorbitant.
"When I introduce a new perfume such as I am doing with out Jardanel, I do not offer it with the fanfare of a lot of advertising and promotion and trust it to succeed on this, I give it advertising only after it is acceptable. Then I have a true reading on its excellence," said Desprez in 1976.
"I come to the store as my own agent, because this way I can keep my distribution selective. My fragrances are at home only in such fine stores as this (Rich's). Because we feel that it is very exclusive and expensive ($100 an ounce), it has to have the right audience. We are only in 140 stores in the US."
With respect to its price at $100 an ounce, Denis Desprez said, "Do I have to justify it? Still, I can try. When you can make Rolls Royce, you don't make Cadillac. In my opinion there is room for luxuries even in a depressed period. Fragrance buys a bit of a dream, and during the time you smell it, it keeps away the bad. Once I was away from home, a young college student in America and mostly broke, but from time to time I would indulge myself in a good French restaurant. I was crazy to do it from the financial point but it helped keep me alive psychologically."
"In these days of economic crisis and inflation, people will cut down on a number of expenses," said Desprez in 1977. "They cut down on food, on entertainment, on clothing. But when it comes to perfume, they will always have money left to buy it, because it's part of the magic of life."
"Perfumes have to be international today," said Denis Desprez. "We are endeavoring to build up a market in each country. My fragrances appeal to people with high incomes, and those people travel, whether they are Japanese, Americans, Germans. In every country they visit, they hope to find products they like. For them, fragrances have to be internationally recognized. The fragrances I manufacture rank among the most expensive in the world."
"The American man doesn't usually know how he wants to smell. He only knows he has to smell. In your country, the tendency is for women to have at least a few favorite fragrances, not just one. In France, when a woman adopts a fragrance, she usually sticks to it.," said Desprez. He felt that American women choose their fragrance more according to the way that she feels, the hour of the day, the weather. But, "most women are led by their own tastes. In the end, women do exactly what they want to do!"
"French women are too unenterprising and routine minded," said Denis Desprez in 1974. "We need reactions from more adventurous girls, with a sense of initiative." This is why he said he was testing his new perfume, Jardanel in America first. "When a new scent works in the US, we know we can sell it in France," he said.
He was asked if his wife wore Bal a Versailles, and he said "My wife, Martine, doesn't like Bal a Versailles. She was not very fond of it herself. She says it doesn't fit her personality. You know, perfume is very particular, and personal, so even though she is a part of the family, she didn't have to commit herself in wearing bal a Versailles when she married me. So she used to wear a competitor's brand, and my father, he did not like it, because he was hurt in his pride. Once he told my wife, 'I'm going to prepare a perfume special for you and you will be the only one to wear it. I don't want to market it. I want you to wear it if you like it.' So she wears a perfume that is made especially for her. It has no name, it's not on the market. But perhaps it will be our next fragrance, if she permits me."
Denis Desprez confessed that there had been requests for the scent, but so far, it was still hers alone. Desprez thinks the slow pace of the perfume business is just right and isn't eager to rush things just to make a quick sale. "Some people in France think a firm should come out with a new fragrance every five years," he said. "In America, it's more aggressive, with a new one every year. But I do not compete like that. We are trying to reach only a very few people. Coming out with a new perfume is quite a venture. You must think about a fragrance slowly, develop an excellent product with good packaging and a good name. I don't have a timetable. I do it l'art pour l'art. Perfume making should be a work of art and, as such, the creation of it has to be on the small scale."
He said that the first thing people need to understand before starting a perfume venture is that you don't go into perfumes to get rich quick. He did say that although the new firm did well, about 25 years had to pass before its star was born, with Bal a Versailles."The perfume industry is very mysterious, many perfumes are created, but few become famous. We had others, probably as good as Bal a Versailles, but something - packaging, fashion - made that one catch on," said Desprez in 1977. "Women's Wear Daily quoted an American executive as believing any fragrance presented with plenty of money behind it would be a success. But, this thinking is a mistake. You can't fool the consumer even with money. The perfume business is like show business - the critics can make it a success or not. The perfume critics are the consumers," said Desprez.
"After the [Second World] war, the professional perfume houses had to face a new competition, the couturier perfume," said Denis Desprez. "I don't say that with a nasty mind, but it is true that the couturiers are not professional in perfume. They have become professional in selling perfume. But in making perfume, they go out to a raw materials house and they ask for a perfume. Yves Saint Laurent is not a nose," said Denis Desprez in 1975. "Of course the couturiers had to support their fashion, their prestige, and things like that. So it made it a very tough time for classical perfume manufacturers. It took a long time to establish the [Jean Desprez perfume] company."
"The fashion brand name was a big advantage over the house of perfume," said Desprez. "The designer comes out twice a year with a new collection and gets considerable editorial support. There's the ready- to-wear show in Paris, a fashion show here and the newspaper reports. A perfumer can't come out with one or two new fragrances a year. When a woman buys a fragrance from a house of fashion, she's acquiring a brand name at the lower cost than a dress. The fashion houses have taken a big share of the fragrance market at the expense of the classical perfumers. Both kinds of companies can compete and get their share of the market. With only perfume, we need to set up a special identity."
Rightfully proud of this long tradition of excellence, Desprez intended to continue the family's dedication to high quality, individuality and refinement in the world of perfume. "Perfume has been part of my heritage. My great grandmother on my father's side (Madame Francoise Millot) was a member of the Millot family which founded a perfume business in 1836. My father created Crepe de Chine while in the Millot company. Then he founded his own company, Parfums Jean Desprez." He described his perfume company as "a very small family-run type." He lamented that many of the older French perfume houses had been sold to large chains in unrelated fields. He mentioned that Dior was part of a giant food company. "There are very few independent houses now - Desprez, Guerlain and Chanel."
The chains have paid for a trade name and must do something to get their money back. This is the way to capitalize on the name under a new manufacturing name. It is not the consumer who needs more new fragrances but the companies economically." He explained that this was the biggest reason on why so many new perfumes seem to flood the market each year. But a good number of them fail in short time.
Denis Desprez said he joined his father's company at age 21, left for two years to attend Georgetown University and resigned in 1954 because he was "not happy." "After attending the foreign service school at Georgetown, I joined my father's company. I resigned in 1956 to seek experience in different fields with different companies. I was eight years with an Italian corporation (Olivetti) making business equipment and four years with a Dutch company in the industrial supply business "which obviously qualified me to create Sheherazade. But it broadened my business experience, and I rejoined my father in business in 1971. I rejoined Jean Desprez in 1971."
Irwin Alfin acquired the United States distributorship of Bal a Versailles in 1976. The fragrance was sold at only 120 store accounts in the USA. "It is the crown jewels of perfume. It is the most expensive collection of ingredients in the world. Everything is natural. I am not sure that can be said about any others." He said that "France is still the fashion capital. It's the same with fragrance. The American market tends toward the convenience of synthetics. The French companies have been willing to pay premiums to buy the finest ingredients," said Alfin.
Alfin's plan for Bal a Versailles was to maintain the exclusivity - to a point. He intended to expand the accounts to about 200 and warehouse the product in the States so it will be available in abundance at times other than Christmas. Alfin said that Bal a Versailles was introduced in France in 1941 to mark an actual coming out ball at the palace, It was marketed in the USA first in 1966 and in doing so, attracted a clientele of affluent women and luminaries. Alfin was also marketing Desprez's men's fragrance, 40 Love, which is a light citrus scent. "It's been around for about ten years but with the popularity of tennis today, it has to be successful."
NEU une energie nouvelle, 1981:
"Denis Desprez has been appointed president and CEO of the Jean Desprez perfume company. He succeeds his mother, Mrs. Jean Desprez, who, upon the death of Jean Desprez, endeavored to continue his work. Ms. Desprez accepted the position of honorary president."
Also, created during the 1980s was the aldehydic floral chypre perfume Sheherazade. Launched in 1983, it was a relaunch of a 1930s perfume of the same name. Denis Desprez said that it was created by his sister Marie-Celine and described it as "floral, rosy, woodsy, Oriental and tobacco." The fragrance features carnation, rose, bergamot, ylang-ylang, vanilla, benzoin, opoponax, cassia, orris root and sandalwood. Desprez said the name Scheherazade came from the bottle's obviously oriental shape.
While in Dallas on a promotional tour to promote the newest women's fragrance, Scheherazade, to be released in 1983, Desprez said, "Up until seven or eight years ago, Bal a Versailles was the most expensive perfume on the market. Now many in the industry have priced their perfumes the same or higher. But ours is a completely natural bouquet combining 260 ingredients." At that time, the United states was the largest market for the $150 per ounce Bal a Versailles. "Perfumes can be made with synthetic or natural raw materials or a combination of both. But even though the synthetics are 99 percent accurate, they cannot achieve that last percent. And when blending synthetics, the relationship between the ingredients in not predictable."
The new scent Scheherazade was packaged in a replica of a Bohemian bottle that Denis Desprez found in a left Bank antique store. "My wife collects bottles, and after sitting in front of this one for two years I decided it would be a perfect container for perfume," said Desprez. "It was in an antique shop, and it stood about 7 inches high. It was of crystal far more delicate than we can reproduce here, and I offered to buy it for my wife, Martine, who collects bottles. We displayed it in the living room and I watched it for about two years. Then, one evening, it came to mind that it should be the bottle of our next fragrance."
Desprez admitted that introducing a new scent is a gamble, especially for a small company like his. The company must invest more than $1 million to produce the initial batch. "Ten years ago, the name was more important than the product. With a good name, you could get away with anything. But now consumers are more educated and they want quality. We want to find a perfume that will carry on the old-world tradition and will also be correct for today's market," said Desprez.
By 1982, the company had 60 employees who produced 300,000 bottles of perfume each year, Desprez said.
Big Secrets, 1983:
"Bal a Versailles Jean Desprez $158 per ounce. Once hailed as the world's most expensive perfume, Bal a Versailles now undersells several of its competitors. There seems to be little argument as to the main components of Bal a Versailles' floral bouquet. They are jasmine, ylang ylang, patchouli and vanilla."
In 1989, a new perfume was launched to celebrate the bicentenary of the French Revolution, christened Revolution a Versailles, it was decorated with a cockade (cocarde), a fabric rosette in the classic colors of red and white, which was worn during the Revolution. Classified as a fruity floral perfume, it included notes of mirabelle, artemisia, plum, rose, frangipani, jasmine, cinnamon, tuberose, gardenia, musk, vanilla, sandalwood, amber and cedar.
Parfums Jean Desprez was sold several times over the years. It was owned by Alfin Fragrances, Inc. from 1977 to 1994. The fragrance was manufactured at a factory in Deauville, Normandy, France. Alfin was the exclusive importer and distributor of “ Bal a Versailles,” “Jardanel” and “40 Love" by Parfums Jean Desprez and for Parfums Revillon, Paris.
New York Times, 1983:
"Alfin Fragrances are wafting toward Al Paul Lefton Inc., which is already the agency for Joy and 1000 from Jean Patou Inc. The reason that conflict problems can be overlooked is that Irwin Alfin is president of both companies.
While Grayson F. Lathrop, chairman of the agency, puts the advertising budget of Alfin in ''seven figures,'' Leading National Advertisers, an independent media-advertising measuring company, came up with only $93,000 for 1981 and $33,500 for the first nine months of last year.
The brands, all imported and, according to Lefton, all ''luxury'' brands, are Bal a Versailles and Versailles Pour Homme by Jean Desprez; Ombre Rose by Jean-Charles Brosseau; Fracas by Robert Piguet, and Cabochard by Gres.
The former agency was Cathy Cash Spellman, Inc."
In 1994, Parfums Jean Desprez was acquired from the Desprez family and was then owned by Inter Parfums Paris, the French subsidiaries of Jean Philippe Fragrances, Inc. which had licenses. The Americas subsidiary, Parfums Jean Desprez, S.A. and its wholly & Europe, Middle East, & Africa owned subsidiary, Jean Desprez, S.A. sold to Parlux Assets in 1996, to the American company Parlux Fragrances Inc.
At the time, Parlux Fragrances, Inc., a manufacturer and international distributor of prestige fragrances and related beauty products, held licenses to manufacture and distribute the designer fragrance brands of Perry Ellis, Todd Oldham, Fred Hayman Beverly Hills, Vicky Tiel and Phantom of the Opera. Parlux also owned five house brands including Animale Parfums. Parlux planned to introduce Bal A Versailles within the Alexandra de Markoff cosmetics counters, a business acquired by
Parlux on December 27, 1995 from Revlon Holdings, Inc.
Parlux announced Jan. 15, 1996, that it had signed a letter of intent to acquire the trademarks of Parfums Jean Desprez Paris, which included the marks for the Bal a Versailles and Revolution a Versailles fragrances, from Jean Philippe Fragrances. The firms would not reveal the intended purchase price but did indicate that it is "very much in line" with the $3.7 mil. Jean Philippe paid for Parfums Jean Desprez Paris in 1994.
On June 10, 1998, Parlux announced that the Bal a Versailles and Jean Desprez fragrance brand rights to Miami-based Genesis International Marketing Corporation. The licensing agreement "completes Parlux' transition out of its low-volume brands, allowing [the company] to focus on [its] stronger, high profile brands...and to actively pursue new growth opportunities within the fragrance industry," Parlux said. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company bought the brands from Jean Philippe Fragrances in 1996 and has been actively divesting or discontinuing brands, including Todd Oldham, Francesco Smalto, Vicky Tiel and, most recently, Alexandra de Markoff, which it sold to Cosmetic Essence in March ("The Rose Sheet" March 9, p. 16). The company retained licenses for the Perry Ellis, Fred Hayman Beverly Hills and Baryshnikov fragrances as well as its own fragrances, including Animale Parfums.
Parfums Jean Desprez was sold to Genesis International Marketing Corporation, a U.S. company based in Miami, Florida in 1998.
In 1925, Jean Desprez pays tribute to his grandfather, the perfumer Mr. Millot, creating the line "Auguste Spirit of China" with three flavors :
- ESPRIT DE CHINE, which will become the most coveted perfumes in Paris, is composed of notes of ambrette, orange blossom, lilac, carnation, lily of the valley, white musk, tree moss and wood sandalwood.
- ESPRIT DE CUIR is composed of notes of lemon, geranium, galbanum, jasmine, clove, birch, opoponax, tonka bean and oak moss.
- ESPRIT DE CHYPRE, composed of notes of bergamot, ylang-ylang, lemon, patchouli, nutmeg, vetiver, oakmoss, heliotrope and cistus.
These three perfumes were revisited in 1994 by Catherine Fructus - Auguste sarl. They are now sold in limited numbers. Packaged in exquisite porcelain bottles closed with a cork.
I first came across Bal a Versailles when I lived in Paris in the 1980s. I fell instantly in love with it and it became my signature fragrance. To me it has always been evocative of the heady scents of Paris, from the Lido on the Champs to Barbes and on to the African markets via the great designer boutiques on rue Cambon. It brings memories of dancing the night away to the sounds and of zouk before hitting an all night restaurant for a full dinner at 7am! This is my Paris, my Bal a Versailles!
ReplyDeleteRoses of Platinum perfume was first introduced by Dorothy Perkins in 1930. It was my grandmother's favorite.
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