René Lalique designed extraordinary bottles for the major houses, in particular he worked extremely closely with François Coty at the beginning of the century. Roger & Gallet, Houbigant, Molyneux and Worth all had Lalique-designed bottles in the 1920s and 30s. He formed a trend flowing through the creative spirit of Art Nouveau where art and industry joined hands in the service of perfumery. Created just after the war, the interpretation of L’Air du Temps for Nina Ricci was named bottle of the century. The emblem of Lalique crystal creations, this design is also a symbol with the presence of two doves.
When his granddaughter’s, Marie-Claude, decided to create her own line of perfume in 1992, this initiative was more than justifiable. It was the combination of a genuine perfumery creation and the know-how of crystal glass-making. The crystal is majestic in the design of prestigious limited edition bottles while a refined work of glass also creates more accessible lines of perfume.
Since 1994 the creation of limited, signed and numbered editions of collector’s flacons have become an annual event. Initially dedicated to feminine perfumes (“Muses” was the first work), these prestigious editions were subsequently joined by their male counterparts in 1998. Frequently figurative, the bottles are the glassmakers’ chance to excel in creating and finishing curves and sculpted details. But boldness can also feature in clean-cut, stylised designs like the most recent edition of Lalique White, where a drop of opal is blown into a totally transparent crystal block.
Specific packaging is created for these prestigious editions, for example the mother-of-pearl treasure set for the very exclusive edition of Lalique White. From shopping bag to precious packaging, a whole world of refinement takes shape around the Lalique perfumery.
Right from the beginning, it was decided to create quality perfumes with the best perfumers, free to use exceptional raw materials.
The flacons are inspired at the same time by René Lalique work and by a modernity which has managed to preserve the finest techniques of a noble craft.
PERFUMER AND CRYSTAL GLASSMAKER
The qualitative work on the fragrances and the care taken with the bottles gives Lalique a special status in the perfumery world, combining a wealth of history and a push towards modernity.
The first perfume, Lalique de Lalique, nestles in a geometric bottle decorated with intertwined honeysuckles. The fragrance developed by Max Gavary and Béatrice Piquet features rose, jasmine, wallflower and iris as top notes, blackcurrant leaves, wild blackberry, pear as heart on sandalwood dry-down, vanilla and white musks; a delicately powdery and refined floral. Every year this emblematic line receives the honours of the collectible Limited Edition flacon.
Lalique pour Homme Lion created in 1998 was inspired by the René Lalique Car Mascots designs for the ornamental radiator caps on old cars. Majestic, noble, the Lion was the inspiration for this first masculine fragrance, fresh and virile. This perfume created by Maurice Roucel has top hesperidic notes of Sicilian bergamot, Italian mandarin with Alpine lavender and rosemary over a jasmine, iris and Virginia cedar heart. On the dry-down, amber, Indonesian patchouli, Indian sandalwood, oak moss and vanilla come to light.
Lalique pour Homme Equus (2001) revolves around the theme of the horse, a thoroughbred. The fragrance, created by Emilie Coppermann, exudes the freshness and masculinity of wooded notes. The composition is introduced by lemon tree, juniper berry, cardamom bergamot and sequoia wood over a dry-down that reveals vetiver, amyris wood, benzoin of Siam, leather and musk
A breath of freshness blows on Eau de Lalique (2003) in its slim glass column hemmed with pearls. For him, for her, a light perfume from the hand of Emilie Coppermann. The top note: lemon tree, rose hip, bergamot, mandarin, dill, cardamom is progressing to a freesia, hibiscus, and cinnamon heart over a dry-down composed of amyris wood, sandalwood, gaiacum wood, elemi, benzoin and white musk.
Lalique Le Parfum (2005) takes its inspiration from a work by René Lalique, the “Mask of Woman”, to sculpt this pattern on the bottle. A red and black colour scheme and a trimming collar emphasise the oriental style. In the same easternising vein an opulent, sensual fragrance was composed by Dominique Ropion: bergamot, bay and rose hips on the top note progressing to a floral heart of jasmine, heliotrope over a warm dry-down of vanilla, patchouli, tonka beans and sandalwood.
Perles de Lalique (2006) resides in an exquisite bottle inspired by the “Cactus” powder box by René Lalique (1928). Crystal bowl with a hand-enamelled stopper, the extract bottle is adorned with a necklace of feathers. Created by Nathalie Lorson, the perfume is a repeat of a major classic: the cyprus. A start of bulgarian rose, bourbon pepper, patchouli, iris on a cashmeran wood dry-down.
Encre Noire (2007) is written into a bottle inspired by the “Biches” inkwell (1913). Block of black crystal, sombre and modern, it imposes total elegance. Inside: an astonishingly masculine fragrance developed by Nathalie Lorson. In this fresh woody fragrance, vetiver dominates majestically, over a cashmeran wood dry-down and musks.
Amethyst (2007) is a modern inspiration from a collection of bathroom accessories, “Epines” (1920). The perfume bottle is embellished by a blackberry bush. This fruity, floral and musky fragrance is a gourmet composition of blackberry, blackcurrants and raspberries notes over a floral heart of lilies, ylang-ylang, eglantine rose and purple peony. On the dry-down, musks, wood and suave vanilla give sensuality.
Lalique White (2008), the latest masculine fragrance, plunges into an immaculate white universe, a soberly geometric bottle with square-cut sides. An aromatic freshness where Christine Nagel has played with hot and cold spices. Calabrian bergamot, lemon tree leaf, Philippines elemi, Guatemalan cardamom, white pepper, nutmeg and discrete violet over a sensual dry-down: white amber, cedar and white musks.
Encre Noire Pour Elle (2009), allow, for the first time at Lalique, to launch the feminine counterpart of an existing masculine line, by contrasting for this version with glossy black and gold. Paying homage to the woody male scent, Christine Nagel has preserved the true olfactive signature and has enclosed within it some musks and voluptuous floral scents: grains of Indonesian amber, a delicate and fresh freesia accord, Turkish rose and osmanthus for a perfume with exquisite femininity.
Fleur de Cristal (2010), is a new feminine fragrance paying homage to René Lalique a century and a half after his birth. A new olfactory chapter is opening with an exceptional perfume created by Raphaël Haury: a Floral, Fresh and Musky fragrance, with a real signature. This lily of the valley is dedicated to women in a flacon combining history and modernity, playing with purity and transparency.
