The History of Perfume in Europe - French Perfume

Historically, the usage of perfume began in Egypt possibly over 4000 years ago. Thereafter, the fame and love of perfume began to spread through Europe from its historic roots in Egypt. Once the Romans and Greeks started to adopt the bath houses habits of the ancient Egyptians regularly, the rise of perfume use within Europe was unstoppable. By the 17th Century perfumes popularity had spread right across the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

The greatest changes came to the perfume industry in the 19th century, when science had progressed significantly. This advancement opened up various new ways to create perfumes. By the end of the nineteenth century there were said to be around 2000 people working within the French perfume industry alone.

The French were the leaders in the art of perfume making. They took a raw talent and refined it into one of pure art. The French perfume industry became so renowned that in 1900 it participated in an amazing world exhibition in Paris, there the perfume pavilion was beautifully decorated and became an instant success. From there on there grew a new perceptions of perfume in Europe.

At this point perfumery was no longer just about the scent of the perfume anymore, a lot of interest was also growing concerning the packaging accessories. Perfume makers began partnering with the most extravagant glass manufacturers, designers and major marketing companies to create upscale packagings to create recognizable brand identity for their products. Lalique; a famous glass manufacturer created some of the most unique perfume bottles of all time for a select group of high end perfumers of the day. It was also during this era that marketing and advertisement agencies have started to play major roles in creating targeted advertising campaigns to generate awareness for these perfumes to ensure they become a success.

In the year 1911 Paul Poiret a French clothier became famous for becoming the first design house to create a perfume to compliment his fashion line. Although he was not the best at marketing his signature perfume at the time, his business still went down history as the first fashion house to create its own perfume. He was the trend setter in the now popular money spinning sector for clothiers and couture houses who create their own line of designer perfumes.

Gabrielle Channel was the next fashion designer that became famous for creating her own line of perfumes to compliment her clothing line. She headed a very successful couture house and did a much better job at marketing her perfume line than Poiret ever did. She, or better still her fashion house has gone down in history for creating some of the top perfumes of all time.

In current times, there have been a lot of changes within the world-wide perfume industry. Although perfume making dates back thousands of years, profit rather than quality has become the primary aim of the industry big boys. This is a big contrast to its hay day in Grasse, France, where exquisite fragrances were always created with the best quality perfume ingredients rather using the cheapest supplies in order too maximize profit..

Nevertheless, French perfumes continue to be some of the most sought after perfumes even now, a fact that can probably be pinned down to an industry's determination to always put quality first.