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Perfume and fashion: love at first sight

Although both perfume and fashion have existed for millennia, their relationship did not become apparent until the early 20th century. Until then, the worlds of fashion and perfumery had existed as two separate entities.

It was in the early years of the last century that haute couture discovered the powerful link between fashion and perfume. In this dialogue between fabrics, designs, and prints, perfume became the invisible extension of style. Beyond material luxury, perfume encapsulates identity and emotion. For the great maisons, launching a fragrance is not merely a commercial decision–it is an artistic endeavour. Fragrance and fashion merge like two languages that, when combined, amplify their narrative power.

Which fashion brand was the first to launch a fragrance?

The first designer to sign a perfume with her name was Chanel, with the legendary No.5, more than a hundred years ago. But she wasn't the first to create a fragrance line, that credit goes to Paul Poiret. When the couturier launched his collection of perfumes, "Les parfums de Rosine", he lacked have the foresight to brand them with his own name, so it was Mademoiselle Chanel who went down in history as the first fashion designer with a signature fragrance–created by perfumer Ernest Beaux.

This was in 1921, a time when molecular perfumery was just beginning to take its first steps.

The relevance of No.5 goes beyond Chanel's power as a designe; it is considered the first truly modern perfume, not intended to imitate nature but to propose its own olfactory universe. The overdose of aldehydes in its formula gave rise to an abstract scent that resonated with ideals of elegance and freedom, values that captivated women then and continue to do so today. In the words of Gabrielle Chanel herself: "Fashion changes all the time, but style remains". Just like a great fragrance.

Since then, the love affair between fashion and perfume has only grown stronger. After Chanel, all the great designers went on to create perfumes in line with their creative vision and brand identity.

During the first decade of the 20th century, perfumes could be whatever their creator wanted them to be, and were not born from popular demand. It was the great designers who decided what women would wear and how they would smell.

Haute couture and fragrance

During the first decade of the 20th century, perfumes could be whatever their creator wanted them to be, and were not born from popular demand. It was the great designers who decided what women would wear and how they would smell.

One of the most iconic examples is Dior. The Miss Dior fragrance was born in 1947 to accompany the launch of the "New Look", completing Christian Dior's style proposal with a matching olfactory signature.

That same year, Balenciaga launched its first fragrance, Le Dix, named after the maison's address in Paris. Created by perfumer Francis Fabron, the powdery and elegant scent reflected the sobriety of Cristóbal Balenciaga's designs, refined but ostentatious. In 1948 came Nina Ricci's iconic L'Air du Temps, a fragrance evoking rebirth and a new feminine sensibility.

A decade later, Givenchy launched the legendary L'Interdit, not only tied to fashion, but to cinema as well, created in honour of his friend Audrey Hepburn. Famously, the name came from her response when Givenchy asked to release it: "I forbid you!"

The revolution in fashion and perfumery

From the 1960s onward, as youth began shaping the cultural landscape, both fashion and perfumery started to evolve, embracing experimentation, rebellion, and sensuality. It was an era of opulent, intense fragrances, often inspired by the Middle East or chypres.

Perfumery responded to the anti-establishment movement with more casual, accessible perfumes, for everyday working women and for more romantic, intimate moments (let's not forget that the revolution was also sexual). For example, Estée Lauder's Alliage was born as a sport fragrance; Revlon's Charlie targeted urban and professional women; while musk-based perfumes became popular among men for their sensual appeak.

Paco Rabanne wrote his name in golden letters in the history of perfumery with creations like Calandre, Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, Ultraviolet, 1 Million, Black XS, Olympéa and Invictus. His connection to this world began in the 1960s, thanks to a partnership with Antonio and Mariano Puig, members of the second generation of the Puig company. Their creative flair has served to strengthen the connection between fashion and fragrance.

In the 1970s, perfumes were designed to attract, seduce, and provoke, like Yves Saint Laurent's revolutionary Opium. Despite the scandal it caused, the perfume achieved record-breaking sales and cult status. And people went wild for the campaign, whose posters were torn down from shops. Years later, the scent experienced an unexpected revival in 2000, when Tom Ford joined the company. Once again, 30 years later, Opium was back in the spotlight with a sultry campaign, and it remains one of the brand's best-selling fragrances to this day.

In the 1980s, fragrances were bold, sometimes overpowering. Think Giorgio Beverly Hills, Christian Dior's Poison, Paloma Picasso or Calvin Klein's Obsession.

Fashion brand Carolina Herrera, founded in the 1980s, also became a pillar of modern perfumery. Carolina, Herrera for Men, 212, CH, and, of course, Good Girl and Bad Boy are some of its best-known hits. In fact, Good Girl is the best-selling women's fragrance worldwide.

The 1990s brought calm after the excess of 1980s. Perfumes, like fashion, embraced minimalism. Scents were cleaner, lighter, almost antiseptic. Examples include Horizon by Guy Laroche, CK One by Calvin Klein and Paco by Rabanne. Of course, there were exceptions, like Jean Paul Gaultier's 1993 launch Classique that played with femininity and sensuality, followed in 1995 by the globally successful men's duo Le Male.

Welcome to a new era in perfumery

The 21st century ushered in a new phase: the rise of multiple reinterpretations of the same fragrance (known as flankers), reformulations of classics, and bold forays into synthetic perfumery.

Take Comme des Garçons, the Japanese brand known for its conceptual, avant-garde, and deconstructive approach, with gourmand fragrances that evoke food scents; or the revival of classic scents with a more modern twist, as is the case with oud perfumes.

Although founded in 1988, Maison Margiela is also an exponent of the new style that marks the beginning of the 21st century in both fashion and perfumery. Its fragrances in the Replica collection evoke moments, places, or emotions through sensorially charged scents with a minimalist mise-en-scène.

While today's fragrances reflect the creative spirit of the fashion house that creates them, they are no longer intended to be islands accessible to only a few. They seek to appeal to an audience that knows what it wants and is looking for a fragrance that complements it.