“Perfection – noun
the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects.”
– Oxford Languages
Lanvin Arpège was once a perfect fragrance, but perfection has a lifespan, no matter who or what it is.
In our world, perfection is an unobtainable standard we freely shower onto people, things, and ideas we attach ourselves to. A perfectly composed song, perfectly directed movie, the perfect fragrance. The sands of time, however, has the tendency to corrupt what we see as perfect, each granule chipping away at its once shiny facade.
Over time, everything we place on the pedestal of perfection requires maintenance and renewal, or else they will be consumed beneath the sand. The remastering and remixing of a song, remaking a movie, and of course reformulating a fragrance. All done to bring a formerly “perfect” thing into modern standards or tastes. Sometimes successfully and sometimes not
This article is part two on my reviews and retrospectives on the interwar Lanvin fragrances. Click here to read the first part of this series, my review and analysis of Lanvin’s My Sin (1924).
The Fall of an Empire
Having been founded in the late 1800s, Lanvin is one of France’s most historic and important fashion houses that is still in operation. The company’s story is one of love, inspiration, and one mother’s ambitions that she brought to reality.
To read the full history on the house, I have written an article that explores more in-depth the rich story of the house, and all its twists and turns. Click here to read more.
Additionally, I recommend reading the earlier review I did of my 1969 bottle of Arpège, therein I dive deeper into Arpège’s history in particular. Click here to read more.
By the early 1980s, Lanvin was a brand on decline.
In the decade prior, the company had been bought out and merged with the American pharmaceutical company Squibb. What might have, at first, seemed as a step up for the house, quickly became a disaster. What followed was a decade of stagnation, quality concerns, and general mismanagement. By the end of the decade, Lanvin was left with a tattered brand image and a lackluster product lineup. With profits on decline, Bernard Lanvin was able to buy the company back in 1979, and would begin his attempt at revitalizing the brand over the next decade.
In the midst of this revitalization, the market was changing drastically around Lanvin. The popularity of soft-floral and clean-aldehydic scents had waned, and as the decade progressed wave after wave of new popular scents reinforced that fall from relevancy. Rich, spicy, and powerful scents like Obsession, Coco, and Opium all offered a sophisticated and deep experience for consumers. Bold and bombastic florals like Red Door and Giorgio made their presence known and filled a room. And by the end of the decade, going into the very early 1990s, woody-florals like Samsara and Dune would warm the general public and become smash hits for their brands.
With a market flooded with new, unique, and heavy-hitting scents, Lanvin’s tarnished classics still on sale could not keep up. Even with a new fragrance launch, a refreshed brand image, and a strong marketing campaign, the sands of time creeped ever closer to swallowing the brand whole. In 1989, time won the battle and Lanvin Parfums closed its doors for good.
The revitalization of a great story, and a great brand, had failed.
The Songbird Remastered
Lanvin Parfums in its original form may have ceased to exist, but Arpège‘s story would not end there. The self-proclaimed “…most beautiful fragrance in the world” would live on, not in its original form, but a new one. A reformulated and remastered form for the new world, and decade, ahead of it.
The rights to the name and brand were bought out, and work was set out to create a new Arpège. In 1993, Hubert Fraysse, brother of the original composer for Arpège, was brought in and he crafted a scent that carried with it the essence of the original, but the heart of a modern fragrance.
What does the new songbird smell like? And how does it compare to the vintage?
For this review, I will be using a relatively fresh (2024) bottle of the current formulation of Arpège.
Lifting off the cap of the sleek, art deco black orb that houses Arpège, I am instantly reminded why this fragrance is such a favorite of mine. Decadent, dense, and deliciously lush are all words to describe the aromatic experience without even having to spray it.
Upon spraying on my inner arm, Arpège hits me with the cool freshness of aldehydes. It lifts the fragrance immediately into the air and allows it almost radiate and float off the skin. Unlike some other aldehydic fragrances, however, it never overstays its welcome, rather it plays its role in the symphony excellently and elevates all that follows it. An opening act, if you will.
Immediately after, the rest of the top notes float across the stage, like precisely trained ballerinas whose feet never seem to touch the ground. The crisp freshness of bergamot and neroli are flanked on either side by playful and airy notes of peach and honeysuckle. The four lift each other up into the air and ricochet off one another, delightfully sparkling on the skin. Even at the start, one of my favorite characteristics of Arpège becomes evident. It is so masterfully blended, none of the notes seem to compete with one another. No, Arpège is happy to allow each note to compliment the next and to work together to entertain and spark joy. Even in the modern version, this is still so evident. On my skin, the honeysuckle stays especially lively, almost making Arpège have an air of childlike sweetness to the blend.
After the tiny dancers that introduce Arpège flutter away, the scent builds up into the next act of the show. In this act, we are introduced to the dense blend of florals that make up the beating heart of Arpège. Working tandem, these floral notes are so well blended together it is almost hard to tell one another apart. They dance between one another, flowing in and out like the wake on the beach. Every so often, a note will bounce out and surprise you, before quickly ducking away back into the crowd. It is here I pick up the notes of jasmine, rose, coriander, and iris. Every now and then ylang-ylang and lily of the valley jump out, but on me I have to focus to really smell them. They all come together to provide a lush marriage of florals, however they never manage to be heavy and old fashioned. Rather, they float around, rarely if ever making contact with the ground.
Building upon the thoroughly blended heart notes, the true base of Arpège comes out and takes the fragrance in a completely new direction. On me, the base notes stay close to the skin and spin and twirl their way around the stage. Their presence takes the performance up a notch, amplifying the already dazzling show. They allow the heart to beat, and weirdly it seems that this is the true stable foundation of the fragrance, while the rich base sort of seeps its way through the flow. On me, I pick up the warmth of benzoin and sandalwood, as well as the animalistic note of musk that adds a sort of “zing” to the base.
In its final stages, the modern formulation of Arpège dries down slightly dry and fresh, never quite losing the floral notes but definitely lowering the intensity. It all sort of fades out rather than ending on a final composition, fully rounding out a captivating performance.
When compared to a vintage version of Arpège, the modern formulation is stronger and has a larger emphasis placed on the musky and woodsy notes. At the top, the vintage has a richer peach note, while the modern sacrifices that in favor of a brighter honeysuckle. Both have a clean dryness about them, but the vintage version does have a density to it that the modern one lacks. In general, the vintage form is more airy and fresh in its floral array, while the modern formula focuses its strengths on a warm and dry woodsy-spicy-musky base.
Modern Arpège was created in 1993, and in a way its stronger focus on its woody-spicy base reminds me of Samsara (1989) and Dune (1991). Undoubtedly, those scents would have been at the forefront of Fraysse’s mind, as they were the amongst the most trending scents on the market at the time.
A Story Unfolded
Formulated of a new world, the current form of Arpège was created to contend with a wide array of scents that had come to market in 1993. Unlike those scents, however, Arpège never truly lets go of its floral heritage, and continues to tell the story of where it came from. It continues to echo the love and passion that inspired the original composition, and carries the same peculiar way it plays on the skin the original was famous for.
Once, the original Arpège was a perfect fragrance, and the current Arpège continues to be one as well.
As always I thank you for reading, and I hope you will join me for the next part of the series, my review of Scandal.
– Zak
Gallery
Leave a Reply