A gorgeous coffee table book with plenty of full page illustrations of classic advertising and modern bottle concepts, Paris: Capital of Guerlain feels like a love letter to the brand from a fan. It will appeal to perfume collectors, bottle collectors, Guerlain superfans and admirers of classic perfumery.
Reading this book feels like immersing oneself in the romantic idea of Paris and its culture, artists, couturiers, and perfumers that harks to a gilded period of the heyday of French fashion and perfumery.
Leafing through the pages full of vintage perfume bottles and cosmetic containers made me want to dig out my Guerlain perfume collection and wear some of the landmark scents.
While obviously self-mythologising and complimentary, as any kind of official presentation of a luxury brand is likely to be, there are glimpses of knowledge, culture and history that are illuminating.
Interesting to British readers might be that founder Pierre- François-Pascal Guerlain originally studied chemistry in England, which at the time (early 19th century) had a more prominent reputation for chemistry (and perfumery) knowhow than France. It was a time of scented vinegars, soaps, salves and hair dyes for balding men, and the idea of perfumery was tied firmly into personal care and beauty preparations.
Guerlain’s first shop (opened in 1828) was on the ground floor of a hotel, designed specifically to target his British customers.
“Guerlain set out to charm the English women of Paris along with sophisticated women of the world who were ‘somewhat sensitive’ and had to exercise almost ‘excessive restraint in their use of perfumes’ to avoid pallor or still worse ‘weight loss, circles around the eyes, or nervous exhaustion’ […] Without any pretense of being a healer, Guerlain knew exactly how to sense the contemporary mood, making Sapoceti his very first success. ‘Formulated to whiten and soften the skin,’ this soap made from whale spermaceti ‘produces a luxurious lather that is more lasting than that of other soap’”.
The craze for the “exotic” of the East, viewed from Europe was a huge influencer of French perfumery and fashion of the era, so does need to be covered in anything historical. Some of the tougher sections in this book for a reader with modern sensibilities are those which not only mention but appear to revere the colonial gaze through which kohl-rimmed eyes of the Parisienne in her “Oriental” perfume viewed the trends of the time.
Going through the family and brand history, hand-in-hand with key moments in the history of Paris, the book charts through the perfumes that continued to make Guerlain a success through the decades, and we end in 2021 where collaborative art projects on the now iconic bee bottles are displayed.
Paris: Capital of Guerlain, Laurence Benaïm, published by Flammarion (Feb 2022), ISBN 2080261312
A PR copy of the book was received, with no obligation to review.