Fragrance

   Fragrance has always been associated with luxury, indulgence, and personal recognition and, even though its full known history is lost in antiquity, it's been shown that the ingredients were once valuable trade items. People in the sixteenth century used scents to mask unpleasant odors. The scent of choice in the seventeenth century was musk, while the women of the eighteenth century preferred floral and fruity scents. By the nineteenth century, Paris became the center of the perfume world. In the early 1900s, Paul Poiret was the first designer to market a perfume. However, it was Chanel in the 1920s who created the most famous designer fragrance, arguably of all time, with her Chanel No 5. Chanel was followed by Jeanne Lan-vin, Jean Patou, and Elsa Schiaparelli. Not only can fragrance make a significant positive impact on many designers' businesses, it also enhances their brand image for their customers through advertising and marketing. Additionally, a fragrance permits a larger audience due to the fact it is less expensive to purchase than couture clothing. Lalique in the 1940s created perfume bottles that today are highly collectable and, by the 1950s, French perfume was at its height. By the 1970s, perfume was a marketing tool that created "shock value," such as Opium by Yves Saint Laurent. Ralph Lauren used fragrance to assist in creating and selling his total lifestyle brand and Calvin Klein's perfume business generates more than $500 million in sales annually. Each fragrance that Klein created reflected the state of his life and/or his clothing collections: Obsession, related to living life for the moment; Eternity, about his new marriage; and CK One, as androgynous as many of his advertising campaigns. Tom Ford in the 1990s targeted the younger clientele with his sleek fragrance packaging, as did Versace, with multiple fragrances named after various jeans line such as Baby Blue Jeans and Yellow Jeans.