How it all began - A funny Story ushers in a whole new Niche!
Success stories often start with a curios incident, and that of L'Artisan Parfumeur is a case in point. Sometime in the 1970s, a friend of chemist Jean-François Laporte asked him, half in jest, if he could create a banana fragrance to accompany a banana costume that the man was planning to wear to a gala at the Folies Bergères. You guessed it: Laporte mastered the challenge with bravura.
The style of L'Artisan Parfumeur was notable for a new, unprecedented naturalness and an associative air that remains unchanged today.
He then went on, applying equal measures of passion and skillful craftsmanship, to create further unique naturalistic fragrances, made with the highest possible proportion of nature-identical essences. His very first collection was a success, and the world of perfumery embraced Laporte as a passionate fragrance artist, as «L’Artisan Parfumeur», the fragrance craftsman. Paris, 1979: Laporte opened his first boutique to serve as a dedicated proprietary venue for his fragrances. It was the first time in decades for a perfume brand to emerge that was not the collateral business of a fashion label or a designer. The artisanal perfumery “niche” was born. My curiosity was immediately piqued by the innovative fragrance concepts with their poetic and sometimes audacious names, such as Voleur de Roses, Méchant Loup and Chasse aux Papillons.
The style of L'Artisan Parfumeur was notable for a new, unprecedented naturalness and an associative air that remains unchanged today. The exceptional ability to activate our personal associative powers, which enables us to enter magical realms, to conjure up forgotten dreams and relive touching moments from the past, doubtless contributed to quickly elevating L'Artisan Parfumeur to the status of insider tip, which remains the status quo today.
As a longtime enthusiast of the brand I regard it as a true enhancement of the niche, one that has unfortunately increasingly begun to sink in a sea of quantity over quality, deploying copycat scents and flankers in a bid to ensure its survival.
Now as then, L'Artisan Parfumeur embodies the incredible finesse, the natural and poetic qualities that have inspired a loyal and steadily growing following around the globe. Working with the most talented perfumers of our time L'Artisan Parfumeur has succeeded in upholding and advancing the legacy of Jean Laporte.
It is remarkable that this brand has managed to remain true to itself and to retain its innovative style despite the endless parade of perfume industry trends. As a longtime enthusiast of the brand I regard it as a true enhancement of the niche, one that has unfortunately increasingly begun to sink in a sea of quantity over quality, deploying copycat scents and flankers in a bid to ensure its survival.
Over the course of the 45-year company history of L'Artisan Parfumeur many of its great fragrances have become classics. The new creations, which I highly recommend, pay homage to the founding philosophy and its ingenious creator. The scents take us on an olfactory journey of discovery and combine the craft skills and creativity of the master perfumer with the beauty of nature. Discover for yourself the magic, the enchantment within that the fragrances from L'Artisan Parfumeur awaken!
