PARIS — How best to breathe new life into a 250-year-old French niche fragrance brand? Owners of Houbigant Paris have a strategy.
The brand never ceased operations since its founding by Jean-François Houbigant in Paris in 1775. “It has been the perfumer of many royal houses,” said Gian Luca Perris, deputy chief executive officer of Houbigant.
It created bespoke fragrances for Marie Antoinette, French King Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonaparte and Queen Elizabeth II — among other dignitaries.
“Lady Di was wearing a Houbigant fragrance at her wedding,” Perris said. Queen Marie of Romania not only sported Houbigant fragrance, but her testimonial featured in its advertising.
Yet the brand has not only made waves due to its celebrity following. “Modern perfumery would not be like it is today without Houbigant,” claimed Perris, who explained the brand invented the first modern perfume, Fougère Royale. That paved the way for fougère to be among the main fragrance families of today.
“It takes the name from this product,” said Perris, adding “fougère” means fern, which has no odor. But a Houbigant perfumer, Paul Parquet, created one in 1882 for the brand. “Since then, the house has been continuing innovating in perfume creation,” Perris said.
Houbigant perfumes.
Photo by Pietra Studio/Courtesy of Houbigant
Quelques Fleurs was the first multifloral scent, dating from 1912, he added. Subsequently, Houbigant went international, but after that, niche fragrances generally were eclipsed by fashion brands’ perfumes for decades. However, niche has risen again.
“The brand is living a second youth,” Perris said. “It’s expanding again worldwide.”
Houbigant’s big birthday this year is being marked with French flagships, after more than 70 years of having no standalone stores. As of June, Houbigant runs a new…