Introducing LANVIN Fragrances | The Story of Love Captured in Scent by France’s Oldest Haute Couture House

“It is not about fashion or the budget. What I want is perfection.”

— Jeanne Lanvin, speaking to perfumer André Fraysse

Contents

Basic Information
The Founder and the Brand’s Origins
The Birth of Perfumery: An “Olfactory Accessory”
The Brand’s Commitments
The Fragrance Range
1. The Classic Legacy: Great Fragrances from Jeanne’s Lifetime
2. Three Pillars of Contemporary Lanvin
An Interesting Aside…

Basic Information

Established: 1924, with the founding of Lanvin Parfums; the fashion house was founded in 1889
Founder: Jeanne Lanvin
Official website: https://us.lanvin.com
Current fragrance business operator: Interparfums
Pronunciation: The name is commonly rendered “Ranban” in the Japanese market. Because the final n is expressed through a nasal vowel in French, the Japanese spelling “Ranvan” is also sometimes used.

The Founder and the Brand’s Origins

The Eldest of Eleven Children

Jeanne-Marie Lanvin was born in Paris on January 1, 1867. Her father, Bernard-Constant Lanvin, was a typesetter, and the family lived modestly. She grew up as the eldest of eleven children.

Jeanne began working at thirteen. She is said to have run after horse-drawn buses while delivering hats to Parisian milliners, saving the fare rather than riding. Known in the neighborhood as the “petite omnibus,” or little bus girl, she earned a reputation for diligence and courage.

After several years of apprenticeship, by around 1883 she was recognized as a milliner at the Félix workshop at 15 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The address where she worked would later become the address of Lanvin menswear.

An Empire That Began with Hats

In 1889, at 22, Jeanne raised her own funds and opened a millinery shop, “Lanvin (Mademoiselle Jeanne) Modes,” on an upper floor at 16 Rue Boissy d’Anglas. She reportedly had just forty francs in cash and 300 francs in credit. Yet her exceptional talent quickly brought the shop acclaim. Four years later, in 1893, she moved to the prestigious 22 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and formally established her eponymous fashion house. Parisian women flocked to Lanvin.

A Turning Point: The Birth of Her Beloved Daughter Marguerite

In 1895, Jeanne married the Italian nobleman Count Emilio di Pietro. The marriage did not last and ended in divorce in 1903, but it brought an event that transformed her life: the birth of her only daughter, Marguerite Marie-Blanche, in 1897.

Marguerite quickly became her mother’s muse. Jeanne lavished her with love and made dreamlike dresses for her from the finest fabrics. The mothers of her daughter’s friends were captivated and began asking Jeanne to make clothes for them too. Demand for children’s clothes led her to open a childrenswear department in 1908. She expanded into girls’ and women’s clothing in 1909 and joined the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture that same year, formally making the transition from milliner to designer.

Jeanne was not a social butterfly and kept her distance from the glittering social events of Parisian couture. The official website describes her as preferring her own world, as both a mother and a businesswoman.

In 1901, Edmond Rostand, the author famed for Cyrano de Bergerac, asked Lanvin to design his academician’s uniform. At least sixty commissions followed, including those of Paul Valéry and Georges Duhamel, taking Lanvin into men’s tailoring as well.

Rapid Expansion and the “Lanvin Way of Life”

The brand made further strides in the 1920s. In 1920, at an event hosted by fashion designer Paul Poiret, Jeanne met architect and decorator Armand-Albert Rateau. Together, they created an interiors division, Lanvin Décoration, at 15 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, offering furniture, rugs, curtains, and stained glass in a pure Art Deco style.

At the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, Lanvin exhibited in the Pavilion of Elegance designed by Rateau. Here too, Jeanne placed fashion alongside architecture and decorative art as an equal form of cultural expression. Rateau also designed the interiors of her Paris residence in the sixteenth arrondissement, parts of which are preserved and displayed today at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

By 1925, twenty-three ateliers were operating under the Lanvin name, employing 800 people. Branches opened in Cannes and Le Touquet that year. Menswear, fur, and lingerie divisions followed in 1926, and new stores opened in Deauville, Biarritz, Barcelona, and Buenos Aires in 1927 alone, reflecting the rapid expansion of the business.

In 1926, she became the first female couturier to be awarded the rank of Chevalier in the Legion of Honour, and in 1938 she was promoted to Officier.

The Birth of Perfumery: An “Olfactory Accessory”

The Founding of Lanvin Parfums

In 1924, Jeanne founded Lanvin Parfums SA at 4 Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées. The aesthetic she had cultivated as a milliner flowed directly into her philosophy of perfume. Believing scent to be another indispensable accessory on a woman’s dressing table, she entered the world of fragrance.

The first perfumer was Maria Zède, a woman said to have been born in Russia. Beginning with Irisé and continuing with Kara Djenoun, Le Sillon, Chypre, and others, the house had released fourteen perfumes by 1925. My Sin, launched that year, combined aldehydes with floral, animalic, and woody notes and became a major success, especially in the American market.

Meeting André Fraysse

In 1925, Jeanne recognized the talent of a young perfumer, André Fraysse (1902–1984), then only around 23. He joined Lanvin’s laboratory in Nanterre and went on to serve as its in-house perfumer.

Fraysse once said:

“Like love, a fragrance must captivate a woman from the very first encounter.”

— André Fraysse

The statement neatly expresses his creative philosophy. Fraysse went on to create Arpège (1927), Scandal (1933), Rumeur (1934), Prétexte (1937), and other fragrances for Lanvin, sustaining its golden age of perfumery between the wars.

The Birth of a Legend: Arpège

The greatest turning point in Lanvin’s perfume history came in 1927. To celebrate her daughter Marguerite’s thirtieth birthday, Jeanne decided to give her the most beautiful fragrance in the world. Her words to perfumers Fraysse and Paul Vacher were those quoted at the opening: “It is not about fashion or the budget. What I want is perfection.”

With no expense spared, Fraysse generously used the finest materials, including Bulgarian rose and jasmine from Grasse, layering them with scents recalling lily of the valley, neroli, ylang-ylang, and other flowers. Said to combine around sixty fragrance materials and described as “the scent of a thousand flowers,” it is a masterpiece of classic floral perfumery, with the radiance of aldehydes giving it an intellectual sheen.

When Marguerite first smelled the finished fragrance, she was already a musician active as an opera singer. She spontaneously exclaimed, “It is like an arpeggio!” The name Arpège, derived from the musical term for a broken chord, was born, and the perfume became an enduring symbol of Lanvin.

French novelist Louise de Vilmorin later described Arpège as follows.

“Arpège is a musical fragrance. It softly whispers a happy song, celebrating refined luxury and the miracle of elegance.”

— Louise de Vilmorin

Jeanne Lanvin’s Later Years and the Continuation of the Fragrance Business

In 1933, Jeanne herself launched L’Eau de Lanvin as a fragrance for both men and women, becoming a pioneer of perfumery beyond gender. The brand describes it as the first “eau mixte,” or shared fragrance.

Jeanne died in Paris on July 6, 1946, at the age of 79. Beginning as a milliner, she had built a major maison in a single lifetime as a couturier, interior decorator, perfume manufacturer, and businesswoman. After her death, her daughter Marie-Blanche became the company’s president and continued directing its clothing collections until 1950.

The fragrance division subsequently survived under several owners. In 2004, Interparfums SA signed a licensing agreement for Lanvin fragrances, then formally acquired the perfume brands and international Class 3 trademarks in 2007 for approximately $29.7 million in cash. Under a 2021 agreement, Lanvin now has an option to repurchase them on July 1, 2027, for €70 million, translated as approximately $82 million in the 2025 annual report. The option’s outcome is attracting attention in the industry.

The Brand’s Commitments

A Fragrance Philosophy: Scent as an Accessory

For Jeanne Lanvin, scent was an extension of fashion. Her milliner’s aesthetic, with its attention to detail, material textures, and the completion of a total look, was directly reflected in her perfumery. Guided by the idea that scent was also an accessory, uncompromising use of the finest ingredients was a principle from the beginning. The cost-no-object approach to creativity exemplified by Arpège’s origin story remains the spiritual core of Lanvin perfume.

Bottle Design: The Flacon as a Work of Art

Arpège’s bottle is known as one of the most beautiful flacons in perfume history. The jet-black glass sphere was designed by Art Deco master Armand-Albert Rateau, with a distinctive slender neck expressing the curves of a woman’s body.

A gold illustration on the black sphere depicts Jeanne dancing with her daughter before going out to a dinner party. It was created by artist Paul Iribe. The silhouette became Lanvin’s brand logo and continues to symbolize the bond between mother and daughter.

In 1993, the legendary Arpège was reformulated by André Fraysse’s younger brother, Hubert Fraysse. Respectful of the original while adapting its formula for modern times, it is regarded as a rare successful reformulation in the fragrance world.

Lanvin Blue and the Commitment to Materials

Bleu Lanvin is indispensable to the brand’s story. Its origins are said to lie in Jeanne’s fascination with the heavenly blue of religious painter Fra Angelico’s frescoes in Florence.

She turned that passion into practice by establishing her own dye factory in Nanterre in 1923. There, she developed no fewer than twenty-three variations of blue. Bleu Lanvin also appeared on perfume flacons and became a defining color across the maison’s fashion, accessories, and packaging. In 2025, under new Creative Director Peter Copping, the blue was refreshed and returned to the packaging in a version with greater luminosity and depth.

The Fragrance Range

The Classic Legacy: Great Fragrances from Jeanne’s Lifetime

Lanvin’s perfume history can be understood through two pillars: aldehydic florals and leather chypres. Arpège (1927) represents the pinnacle of the former, while Scandal (1933) is a leading example of the latter.

Arpège (1927): The “scent of a thousand flowers,” said to combine approximately sixty fragrance materials, centered on Bulgarian rose, jasmine, and lily of the valley, with aldehydes layered over the flowers. It is an aldehydic floral masterpiece often mentioned alongside Chanel No. 5 and remains a long-selling fragrance today.
My Sin (1925): A provocative creation in which aldehydes and floral, animalic, and woody notes mingle with remarkable richness. It was Maria Zède’s final creation.
Scandal (1933): A leather chypre masterpiece by André Fraysse. Top notes of bergamot and neroli lead through juchten, or Russian leather, iris, and rose to a deep trail of oakmoss, vanilla, and benzoin. Renowned perfumer Edmond Roudnitska discussed it in his book Le Parfum (1980), presenting it as a prototype of the fruity aldehydic leather fragrance. Discontinued in 1971, it is now an elusive, hard-to-find perfume.
Rumeur (1934): An oriental perfume created by Fraysse. A newly composed version was released in 2006.
Prétexte (1937): A floral fragrance also created by Fraysse.

Three Pillars of Contemporary Lanvin

Among today’s Lanvin fragrances, operated by Interparfums, the following three lines are representative.

The Éclat d’Arpège Line
Created by perfumer Karine Dubreuil in 2002, with a bottle designed by then Creative Director Alber Elbaz, it is a modern homage to Arpège. A transparent fruity floral, it layers green lilac, Sicilian lemon leaves, wisteria, green tea leaves, peach blossom, red peony, white cedar, and sweet musk. It was positioned for a younger audience than the classic Arpège. Limited editions with new bottle designs have appeared frequently since, making it a favorite with collectors too.

The Jeanne Lanvin Line
A fruity floral launched in 2008. It moves from top notes of blackberry, citron, and pear nectar to a heart of raspberry, white freesia, and peony, followed by a warm trail of sandalwood, ambergris, and musk. Named after the founder, the line has also found favor in Japan, especially among younger customers, as an attractive, crowd-pleasing fragrance.

The Modern Princess Line
Released in 2016, this airy fruity floral was created by Christophe Raynaud. Pink Lady apple and redcurrant top notes lead into a heart of freesia and jasmine, with vanilla orchid and white musk coloring the base. Conceived for the free and courageous modern woman, it was joined in 2024 by the flanker Modern Princess in Jeans.

Modern Princess in Jeans translates denim’s combination of informality and sophistication into scent. Nathalie Lorson and Coralie Spicher centred the composition on blue hyacinth, bringing floral softness together with a vegetal character. Mandarin and bergamot introduce a floral heart with jasmine, while musks and benzoin soften the finish. This eau de parfum develops the princess’s character through a balance of delicacy and assertiveness.

An Interesting Aside…

“Promise Her Anything, but Give Her Arpège”
Arpège has a legendary advertising line dating from the 1950s: “Promise her anything, but give her Arpège.” According to Bernard Lanvin of the Lanvin family, the phrase was conceived by a fragrance executive who had previously been a pilot. Used for at least sixty years, it continued to carry the Jeanne Lanvin name around the world.

A Perfume Sampling Machine
In the 1930s, Lanvin exhibited a telephone-booth-like perfume sampling device in the United States. Visitors could step inside and press a button to receive clean air followed by a mist of their chosen fragrance, trying several scents in succession. It could be considered a precursor of today’s immersive fragrance events.

A Classic Still Going Strong Nearly a Century After Its Birth
Arpège has remained on sale for almost a hundred years since its creation in 1927. Alongside Chanel No. 5 (1921), it is one of the world’s longest-selling classic perfumes. Its reputation for retaining its authenticity after the 1993 reformulation is unusual in the fragrance industry.

References