Born in 1834, Aimé Guerlain lost his mother at the age of seven. His father, Pierre-François-Pascal, sent him to study in England before training him in perfumery. In 1862, he sold his business to her, as well as to his brother Gabriel who took care of the management. The house was then known throughout Europe and the family fortune was already well established, notably with a shop in rue de la Paix and a factory-laboratory in Colombes. Aimé took over the complete management of the company in 1865, and two years later, for the Universal Exhibition held on the Champ-de-Mars, he composed the Exhibition Bouquet ; Guerlain won numerous prizes there, which helped to develop the worldwide recognition of the company, which generates more than half of its turnover abroad. To consolidate the independence of perfumery, Aimé set up, with Jean-Baptiste Gellé, Alphonse Pivert and Charles Gallet, the system of the admissions committee, by which they would judge requests and places for universal exhibitions from 1878.
In 1882, he married in the 10th arrondissement of Paris with Jeanne Alexandrine Dupérié-Pélou, widow and mother of a daughter; they will have two children together, Marguerite and Jean.
During the Universal Exhibition of 1889, of which he was then a member of the professional jury, he presented his new creation, Jicky. It is said that he takes the nickname of a first love in England; or perhaps that of his nephew, Jacques, whom he trained in the trade. Be that as it may, it is with this composition that he became one of the initiators of modern, more abstract creation, made possible among other things by the use of vanillin synthesized from 1874. According to the words by Jean-Claude Ellena, “Jicky represents a radical break with traditional perfumery, which copied nature. It marks the beginning of emotional perfumery, which no longer tries to imitate the scent of flowers, but rather seeks to arouse emotion.. [1]
The 25th June 1890, always with the aim of defending rights and gaining recognition for the profession, he created the Syndicat Français de la parfumerie with Charles Gallet. Two years later, he was promoted to Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. But following the sudden death of his son Jean in 1893, he retired from perfumery, leaving Gabriel at the head of the company with his sons, Pierre and Jacques, the latter taking over the creation. Aimé died on February 26, 1910; and so rare are the perfumes that have come down to us, they are nevertheless important milestones in the history of perfumery.
Non-exhaustive perfumegraphy
Imperial Russian1840
Exhibition Bouquet1867
Leather of Russia1872
pink poa1877
Eau de Cologne du Coq, Cipricime, Italian Flower1884
Skin1885
Rococo1887
Jicky, A Verbena is dying1889
Excellence1890
Belle France1892
Cross-country1898
And you, what is your favorite Aimé Guerlain perfume?
Indicative bibliography
National Archives
Elizabeth de Feydeau, The Guerlain novelFlammarion
Elizabeth de Feydeau, Perfume lovers dictionaryLead
Michael Edwards, Perfume Legends II – French Feminine FragrancesEmphasis
Rosine Lheureux, A History of Perfumers: France 1850-1910Champ Vallon
Main visual : maddalene.files.wordpress.com
Jicky advertising visual: sf1.mariefrance.fr
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