By the end of his career (1970's) André Fraysse wrote a long autobiography typewritten on more than 10 pages that I had the luck to find. He presents his long experience at Lanvin, the birth of Arpege and some insights about their fragrance factory.Lanvin had the chance and the elements to be as important as Chanel but it did not happen. It also shows what is not often said in marketing manuals - that the most important element in the success is not graphic/design/product/ad/strategy/etc but the human factor and those who believe in the brand. It's not always mathematic.
Today there is nothing interesting about Lanvin except from the extraordinary fashion of Alber Elbaz. The fragrances on the market created when the brand passed in the many hands of the many owners shows what happens when people with just commercial studies are granted with an heritage they do not understand. But the decline is not new. In a historical period Lanvin was more famous than Chanel, and not by intelligent ads but by extremely good fragrances. Rumeur, Scandal and Arpège (the real one) were among the best and they were praised even by the very critical Edmond Roudnistka (he considered André Fraysse as the best perfumer ever). The design, graphical style and interior decoration created by Rateau were among the most accomplished in the 20th century with both unity (as Chanel but not Guerlain) and poetic imagination (as Guerlain but not Chanel). Good perfumes, good presentation, very good sales, modern but sensible - all that was lost in the history. What Lanvin Fragrances are today is the best example of "Brand Death" - when a brand has lost its soul.
In his autobiography André Fraysse, for a mysterious reason sets the creation of Lanvin fragrances the moment when he arrived - 1925. Of course, there is no reference to previous fragrances of Maria Zede (as if they've never existed).
Here you have an ad for Lanvin Fragrances, published 2 months before Fraysse's arrival. You will see a lot of names of the perfumes (10 fragrances and 4 lotions) thought to be only a gift for clients and also 2 international locations - Rio de Janeiro and New York.
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
