Rochas: For Elegance, Simplicity and Youth

“Every event gives me an excuse to create.”
— Marcel Rochas

Essential Information
The Founder and the Origins of the Brand
What Matters to the Brand
The Fragrance Lineup
1. Heritage Fragrances: Historic Signature Creations
2. The Modern Lineup
By the Way…

Essential Information

Founded: 1925
Founder: Marcel Rochas (1902–1955)
Official website: rochas.com
Pronunciation: Roshasu in Japanese usage; “Rosha” in French

The brand is currently owned by Interparfums, a publicly listed French company.

The Founder and the Origins of the Brand

A Young Parisian Becomes a Couturier at 23

Marcel Louis Jules Rochas was born in Paris on February 24, 1902. He lived in an age when artists such as Erik Satie, Jacques Doucet and Paul Poiret flourished, and Jean Cocteau and Cubism coloured the atmosphere of Paris. It is not difficult to imagine how strongly this environment nurtured Marcel’s sensibility.

In 1925, at the age of 23, Marcel opened his own couture house on the Place Beauvau in Paris. His motto was “elegance, simplicity and youth.” Confidence in youth, a love of the female form and a sharp sensitivity to his times became the foundations of the brand.

Vogue Paris soon hailed him as the “couturier de la jeunesse,” the couturier of youth. In 1931, he was among the first, alongside Elsa Schiaparelli, to introduce strong, padded shoulders. Three-quarter-length coats and skirts with pockets were also innovative proposals for the time. In 1933, he moved to 12 Avenue Matignon, attracting an even more international clientele.

The Craftsman Who Captivated Hollywood’s Stars

Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford and Carole Lombard: stars of Hollywood’s golden age flocked to Rochas couture. His connection with Mae West was particularly close, and Marcel made her a waist-cinching corset trimmed with black Chantilly lace. This tightly waisted design later became known as the “guêpière” and spread outside France as the “waspie,” becoming an innovation remembered in fashion history.

In 1934, he presented the Bird Dress, a long black sheath dress with a large white bird at the neckline. Such creations made dialogue with Surrealist artists another important aspect of the brand.

The First Step into Perfume: The Three “A”s

In 1936, Marcel took his first step into the world of perfume. Air Jeune, Audace and Avenue Matignon: the names of the three fragrances embodied the brand’s spirit through youth, audacity and an elegant place name, respectively. Housed in elegant rectangular opaline-glass bottles with navy bands, they were sold exclusively at the Avenue Matignon boutique. With the outbreak of the Second World War, however, these perfumes disappeared from the market.

A Fateful Encounter: Falling in Love with Hélène

In 1941, Marcel met the woman destined to change his life on the Paris Métro. She was a young woman studying dance and acting at the Paris Opera’s ballet school and Cours Simon, and her real name was Nelly Brignole. Marcel approached her and said, “you have a head made for hats.” Although he was 19 years her senior, they married a few months after meeting. Marcel even changed her name, from Nelly to Hélène.

Known as “La Belle Hélène,” or “beautiful Hélène,” she became the leading model at the Avenue Matignon boutique and the finest expression of Marcel’s aesthetic vision.

The Masterpiece Femme: A Fragrance of Love Born in Wartime

Occupied Paris, 1943. Marcel asked the young perfumer Edmond Roudnitska to create the most feminine of fragrances as a gift for his wife Hélène. Roudnitska later recalled:

“I created Femme in 1943, during the hardest years of the war in Paris, in a building with a rubbish dump on one side and a paint factory on the other.”

It was subsequently presented for the first time in a Rochas collection in late 1944, after the liberation of Paris, and released to the general public in 1945. As the first fine fragrance, or luxury perfume, of the postwar period, Femme was an immediate success.

The perfume came in a luxurious crystal amphora-shaped bottle with voluptuous curves reminiscent of Mae West, designed by René & Marc Lalique. Its box was trimmed with black and white Chantilly lace over pale satin, recalling the corset Marcel had once made for Mae West. The fragrance is classified as a spicy, fruity chypre, a perfumery style grounded in a broad, earthy expanse of oakmoss, and is known as an early landmark fragrance that made striking use of plum.

Marcel Passes Away. Hélène Steps Forward.

Having closed his couture house in 1953 to concentrate on perfume, Marcel died suddenly in Paris on March 14, 1955, at the age of 53.

The young Hélène was left to take over as president of Rochas. This placed her among the first women to lead a company in France, a historic position. Her business acumen was formidable, and the American press called her a “sophisticated panther.”

In 1960, Hélène commissioned perfumer Guy Robert and launched Madame Rochas. Its Baccarat crystal bottle, modelled on an eighteenth-century janusette, or salt jar, was said to have been based on an object Hélène herself found in a Paris antique shop. The fragrance propelled Rochas to the top of the luxury perfume world in 1967. In an interview with W magazine, she left these words:

“A woman must have something fragile about her, even if she is not.” — Hélène Rochas (W magazine, 1984)

Monsieur Rochas followed in 1969, and Eau de Rochas in 1970.

Changing Times: Wella, P&G and Interparfums

In 1987, German haircare company Wella AG acquired Parfums Rochas S.A. From that point, the brand placed greater emphasis on fragrance than on fashion, becoming recognised as a perfume brand in markets around the world, including Japan.

In 2003, P&G, or Procter & Gamble, acquired 77.6% of Wella’s voting shares for €3.2 billion, automatically bringing Rochas under its umbrella. Fashion was not a core business for the consumer-goods giant, however, and the Rochas fashion division was closed in 2006.

The turning point came in 2015. French fragrance specialist Interparfums SA acquired Rochas from P&G for US$108 million, approximately €102 million. Interparfums chief executive Philippe Benacin said of the acquisition:

“This acquisition opens a new chapter in our history, bringing fragrance and fashion together for the first time. With complete freedom in creativity and aesthetic choices, we will establish the place Rochas deserves in the world of luxury.”

What Matters to the Brand

A Philosophy of Fragrance Creation

Rochas’s perfume philosophy is encapsulated in Marcel’s words: “A woman’s fragrance must be sensed before she is seen.” It is a belief that perfume is not an accessory but an embodiment of the woman herself.

The brand’s three values are “Audacity & Elegance,” “Young at Heart” and the “Spirit of Celebration.” While looking ahead of its time, it has always celebrated women’s joy in living and their freedom.

Attention to Bottles and Packaging

Femme’s amphora-shaped crystal bottle, made by Lalique, and Madame Rochas’s Baccarat crystal bottle in the form of an eighteenth-century jar have both demonstrated that a vessel for fragrance can stand as a work of art. The Eau de Rochas bottle, designed by Serge Mansau, has a crystal-like transparency and imitates the flowing lines of water within.

Ribbons, Lace and Roses: Three Signatures

Ribbons and bows: A signature running throughout the Rochas collections, also incorporated into perfume packaging.
Chantilly lace: First appeared in Marcel’s collections in 1943. The black lace used on Femme’s box became a starting point for the perfume packaging that followed.
The May rose: Centifolia rose from Grasse in southern France is used. In Mademoiselle, rose layered with jasmine also forms the floral heart.

The Fragrance Lineup

Heritage Fragrances: Historic Signature Creations

Femme (1944)
A fruity, spicy chypre masterpiece in which perfumer Edmond Roudnitska made striking use of plum. Top: plum, peach and bergamot / Heart: rose, ylang-ylang, jasmine and spices / Base: oakmoss, leather, vanilla and patchouli. It was reworked by Olivier Cresp in 1989. The amphora-shaped bottle with its voluptuous curves is an icon.

Madame Rochas (1960)
A classic floral aldehydic perfume commissioned by Hélène Rochas from perfumer Guy Robert. Robert believed that “a perfume must, above all, smell good (un parfum doit avant tout sentir bon).” The Baccarat crystal bottle helped propel Rochas to the top of the global luxury perfume market in 1967.

Eau de Rochas (1970)
An eau de cologne centred on women, created by perfumer Nicolas Mamounas. It is a fresh citrus fragrance inspired by the days Hélène spent on the Côte d’Azur. Accounts published around its fiftieth anniversary in 2020 describe it as having remained on the world’s bestselling-perfume lists for roughly fifty years and sold at least 55 million bottles by that point.

Byzance (1987)
A classic example of an oriental floral. Its name comes from the ancient city of Byzantium, and its themes are the Mediterranean and the exoticism of the East. It was reinterpreted for the modern day in 2019, followed by Byzance Gold in 2022.

The Modern Lineup

Mademoiselle Rochas (2017)
A flagship launched under the new Interparfums ownership. It is a fruity floral composition with redcurrant, ivy leaf and toffee apple at the top, and a heart of jasmine and rose.

Girl (2021)
Rochas’s first vegan-friendly perfume, made with 90% natural-origin ingredients and a bottle containing 40% recycled glass. Created by perfumer Anne Flipo, this woody, musky fragrance develops from top notes of neroli, pink pepper and blackcurrant into a heart of jasmine, orange blossom and orchid. Under the slogan “Spray Good, Feel Good,” it made a clear statement of environmental responsibility.

Rochas Man (1999)
Centred on lavender, jasmine and sandalwood, this creation adds the sweetness of vanilla to make a masculine fragrance more approachable. Its frosted-glass bottle was designed as a contemporary art object.

By the Way…

Marcel Rochas and Christian Dior
Marcel is said to have presented a silhouette combining a long, full skirt with a cinched waist as early as 1943, four years before Dior unveiled the New Look in 1947. He is regarded as one of the pioneers who pointed in that direction before Dior became the icon of the era.

Hélène Rochas and Andy Warhol
In 1975, Andy Warhol made a Pop Art portrait of Hélène. In 1967, sculptor César also took a cast of her breast, preserving it in sculpture as a monumental tribute. She was a woman who truly lived at the heart of the Paris art world.

A Court Battle over a Name
The fragrance launched in 1970 as Eau de Rochas was originally sold under the name Eau de Roche. In 1974, however, Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-LaRoche sued, asserting trademark rights over “Roche,” and Rochas was forced to change the name to Eau de Rochas in 1976.

A Bridge to a New Generation
Charles de Vilmorin was just 24 when he was appointed the new creative director in 2021. One reason for his attachment to Rochas is a family connection to Louise de Vilmorin, a close friend of Hélène Rochas. History draws people in, and people make history: a continuity characteristic of Rochas.

References