FRANCE. French/American beauty house Coty is celebrating its milestone 120th anniversary in style by looking back at its disruptive, pioneering fragrance history dating back to 1904.
The Moodie Davitt Report Brands Director Hannah Tan was on location in Paris last week (9 October) for the anniversary event, which welcomed influencers and media from all over the world to rediscover Coty’s olfactory heritage via an immersive exhibition.
The exhibition showcased Founder François Coty’s first fragrance releases and honoured his impact in shaping the world of perfumery. It also highlighted Coty’s memorable fragrance heroes over the decades, previewed its latest scientific innovations and celebrated the Infiniment Coty Paris collection.
Speakers from Coty included Senior Director Internal Engagement and Heritage Regine Pasquet; Junior Project Manager Education & Heritage Charlotte Gault; Global Research & Development Senior Vice President Fragrance Innovation Eva Vinas; Vice President Global Marketing Niche Brands Marie Ousmane Amadou; Project Manager Sarah Louis; Vice President Global Communication Prestige Fragrances & Make-up Guerric De Beauregard; and Vice President Fragrances Olfactive Development Stephane Demaison.
The experience began by looking back at Coty’s first-ever fragrance La Rose Jacqueminot, the first single-flower fragrance with Centifolia rose.
Welcoming guests to the exhibit, Gault said: “Coty has reinvented perfumery time and time again and shattered all conventions. At a time when fragrances were mainly used for hygiene and elegant women only wore discrete floral scents, Coty introduced extraordinary olfactory creations and presented them in jewel-like ornate bottles.
“We took fragrance bottles out of the bathroom and into the living room to be admired as objects of art and beauty. Coty pioneered two of the biggest fragrance families we know today, Chypre and Amber. Today, Chypre, Ambre and Floral fragrances make up two-thirds of our market so we can say that Coty’s influence in modern perfumery is truly unparalleled.”
A disruptive fragrance historyThe legend goes that when the manager of the Grands Magasins du Louvre refused to smell François Coty’s first-ever fragrance, La Rose Jacqueminot, he dropped a bottle on the floor. By doing so, he covered the air with the scent of sweet roses, capturing the attention of the department store’s luxury clientele who bought Coty’s entire inventory. While it is uncertain if the legend is true, it is a story fondly told within the company to underline the pioneering and indomitable spirit of Founder François Coty. Coty broke the perfumery rules of his era by designing accords more sophisticated than the floral or citrus ones available at the time. In 1905, Coty launched Ambre Antique, the first-ever Amber fragrance, followed by Chypre which contrasted bergamot with oakmoss and patchouli. These important fragrances formed the beginnings of the Amber and Chypre fragrance families that we know today. By using synthetic molecules and bases combining natural extracts with synthetic creations, he expanded the perfumer’s palette and magnified flowers and woods in his fragrances. Since its founding, Coty has been focused on creating bottles that blended art with perfumery. Coty frequently said of a perfume: “It should be looked at as much as it is smelled; it is an object before it becomes a scent.” Luxury French glassmaker René Lalique produced all of Coty’s bottles from 1908 to 1920, until Coty decided to design and make his own. After running a small shop on Rue La Boétie, Coty opened a larger one in Neuilly in 1905. He then opened another at 23 Place Vendôme, which became the brand’s flagship and established the perfumer in the industry. He soon launched branches in London, Buenos Aires, New York and Moscow, and started the Suresnes plant so he could control every step of the manufacturing process. |
The experience continued with an exhibition that celebrated Coty’s fragrance heroes over the years.
These included Jovan Musk for Women, Davidoff Cool Water, Calvin Klein CK One, Boss Bottled, Adidas Ice Dive, Daisy Marc Jacobs, Chloé Eau de Parfum and Burberry Goddess, one of Coty’s biggest launches of 2023.
Notably, Burberry Goddess was launched in global travel retail.
Afterwards, guests participated in a fragrance masterclass which highlighted how different raw materials – Orange Blossom, Vanilla and Aldehydes – could produce different scents and ingredients depending on their methods of extraction. Coty also previewed some upcoming fragrance releases.
Demaison said: “Fragrance is all about you, your emotions, your history and your life. It is very personal as you literally put it on your skin. At the end of the day there is no long-term success without a memorable and creative juice with a strong and clear olfactive signature. Therefore, you need a powerful and creative original idea at the beginning. Each brand has its own identity and we need to translate this into a creative olfactive signature.”
A vision for the future
To understand Coty’s vision for the future, guests entered the Coty Lab to discover its newest breakthrough, Molecular Aura.
Coty Technical Director of Perfumery Dominique Vernaz explained: “This fragrance delivery technology, which is based on a sugar-derived molecule, acts on the natural volatility of fragrance molecules and changes their evaporation profile, extending the fragrance’s fidelity of character over time.”
Acting like a magnet, the Molecular Aura slows down the evaporation of certain notes and accentuates others, challenging fragrance’s traditional pyramid structure of top-middle and base notes.
Molecular Aura also boost the olfactory power of raw materials. It joins another delivery technology, cyclodextrin, used by Coty for some of Adidas’ fragrances, among others. This molecule traps the most volatile fresh notes and then releases them gradually on the skin after time upon contact with water or moisture.
Coty also previewed the EmoChar method which scientifically documents the positive emotions a fragrance induces. The technology analyses both verbal and non-verbal data. Coty uses this tool to position its fragrances on a seven-dimensional map covering stimulation, relaxation, pleasure, sensuality, tenderness, joy and self-esteem.
Underlining its commitment to sustainability Coty presented its recent partnership with biotechnology firm LanzaTech, which has created an innovative method to upcycle ethanol for use in fragrances.
Vinas said: “We continue pushing the boundaries between fragrance and science. What do we ask from our fragrances aside from smelling good? That’s performance. We have developed tools to measure the performance of a fragrance from initial impact to intensity over time.
“We are also pioneering in terms of sustainability. In partnership with LanzaTech, we are capturing CO2 emissions that come from various industries into a bio-reactor to be upcycled into ethanol. We then purify it to make it usable for our fragrances such as those in Infiniment Coty Paris.”
Infiniment Coty Paris
The experience concluded with a showcase of Infiniment Coty Paris, a brand co-created by Coty CEO Sue Y. Nabi and Nicolas Vu. As reported, The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie attended the media preview of Infiniment Coty Paris in May 2023. Infiniment Coty Paris launched globally in February this year.
The collection comprises 14 scents that evoke three times of day: dawn, day and dusk. Highlights from the range include Matin de Jade, Après l’Amour and Soleil d’Ikosim, all created to express positive human emotions.
Each fragrance is tied to a distinct emotion shown and measured by neuroscience: sensuality, pleasure, fondness, self-esteem and more.
Infiniment Coty Paris was made using Molecular Aura technology, which modulates the evaporation of olfactory molecules to amplify and extend the power of the scents. This ensures the fragrances last up to 30 hours.
Additionally, the collection is produced entirely with alcohol derived from captured and recycled carbon emissions.
Introducing the line Coty Vice President Global Marketing Niche Brands Marie Ousmane Amadou said: “Infiniment Coty Paris sits at the crossroads of science, art and innovation. Our founders – Sue Y. Nabi and Nicolas Vu – had a clear vision: to bridge past and future. Our language is one of augmented nature as Infiniment Coty Paris is made with upcycled alcohol and Molecular Aura.” ✈