The behemoth and the (seemingly) last bastion of artisan pride in luxury have shaken hands. For now at least. In short LVMH, the giant of luxury fragrances, fashion, accessories and wines & spirits (see below) and Hermes, the historic saddle-maker turned luxe brand, have come to a reconciliation. The official press release runs thus:
"The President of the Commercial Court of Paris, Mr. Franck Gentin, proposed to LVMH and Hermès a conciliation in order to bring to an end the conflicts between the two groups and restore a climate of positive relations between them.
The two parties having reacted favorably to this proposal, signed an agreement under which the LVMH Group will distribute all its Hermès shares to its shareholders, on the understanding that LVMH’s largest shareholder, Christian Dior will in turn distribute the Hermès shares it receives to its own shareholders. LVMH, Dior and Groupe Arnault have undertaken not to acquire any shares in Hermès for the next five years. The distribution of Hermès shares, approved by the boards of LVMH and Dior, will be completed no later than 20th December 2014. Following this distribution, Groupe Arnault will hold around 8.5% of the capital of Hermès International.
By virtue of the agreement reached today, LVMH and Hermès have brought to an end the conflict, and all related actions, between them.
Mr. Axel Dumas and Mr. Bernard Arnault both express their satisfaction that relations between the two groups, representatives of France’s savoir-faire, have now been restored."
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is represented in Wines and Spirits by a portfolio of brands that includes Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Krug, Ruinart, Mercier, Château d’Yquem, Domaine du Clos des Lambrays, Château Cheval Blanc, Hennessy, Glenmorangie, Ardbeg, Wen Jun, Belvedere, 10 Cane, Chandon, Cloudy Bay, Terrazas de los Andes, Cheval des Andes, Cape Mentelle, Newton et Numanthia. Its Fashion and Leather Goods division includes Louis Vuitton, Céline, Loewe, Kenzo, Givenchy, Thomas Pink, Fendi, Emilio Pucci, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Berluti, Nicholas Kirkwood and Loro Piana. LVMH is present in the Perfumes and Cosmetics sector with Parfums Christian Dior, Guerlain, Parfums Givenchy, Parfums Kenzo, Perfumes Loewe as well as other promising cosmetic companies (BeneFit Cosmetics, Make Up For Ever, Acqua di Parma and Fresh). LVMH is also active in selective retailing as well as in other activities through DFS, Sephora, Le Bon Marché, la Samaritaine and Royal Van Lent. LVMH's Watches and Jewelry division comprises Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Chaumet, Dior Watches, Zenith, Fred, Hublot and De Beers Diamond Jewellers Ltd, a joint venture created with the world’s leading diamond group.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Monday, September 1, 2014
Guerlain Unveils Shalimar Souffle de Parfum Commercial
Somehow I'm not entirely convinced: why keep producing fragrances that bear no resemblance to the classic Shalimar perfume and keep naming them Shalimar this or that? The lovely Shalimar Parfum Initial edition is a loss in market terms (and a loss to us perfume lovers of great juice), for this very reason.
On the other hand, I recognize the need to ride on the coat-tails of an established brand and to keep reviving this brand by introducing junior customers to it, even by name.
This is the case with CK One, L'Eau d'Issey (Miyake), Dior J'Adore (preparing another commercial for fall 2014 themselves), Davidoff Cool water and their million "flankers". This is the raison d'être of flankers, come to think of it. It just looks a tad weird from such a historic house as Guerlain, but it isn't really.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Leaves…leave…summer lives & leaves
I CELEBRATE myself;
And what I assume you shall assume;
For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my Soul;
I lean and loafe at my ease, observing a spear of summer grass. 5
Houses and rooms are full of perfumes—the shelves are crowded with perfumes;
I breathe the fragrance myself, and know it and like it;
The distillation would intoxicate me also, but I shall not let it.
The atmosphere is not a perfume—it has no taste of the distillation—it is odorless;
It is for my mouth forever—I am in love with it; 10
I will go to the bank by the wood, and become undisguised and naked;
via |
The smoke of my own breath;
Echoes, ripples, buzz’d whispers, love-root, silk-thread, crotch and vine;
My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the passing of blood and air through my lungs; 15
The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore, and dark-color’d sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn;
The sound of the belch’d words of my voice, words loos’d to the eddies of the wind;
A few light kisses, a few embraces, a reaching around of arms;
The play of shine and shade on the trees as the supple boughs wag;
The delight alone, or in the rush of the streets, or along the fields and hill-sides; 20
The feeling of health, the full-noon trill, the song of me rising from bed and meeting the sun.
~Walt Whitman (1819–1892), from Leaves of Grass
Monday, August 25, 2014
Ancient Fragrant Lore (part 3): Classicism
The Latin origin of the word perfume, fumare, i.e., to smoke, brings us to rituals involving fumigation and votive offerings. Hesiod in his Theogony stresses "May the purest incense burn on the altars, so as to obtain the favors of our gods."
Alfonso Savini, the incense burner |
Indeed the very word incense in Greek (θυμίαμα) comes from the verb thuo (θύω), meaning to sacrifice, originally denoting both the fragrant smoke of the roast of sacrificed animals on the pyre rising to please the gods (the flesh was served to the congregation) and the ritual burning of precious locally harvested—such as cistus labdanum—or imported resins like myrrh and frankincense, their smoke also rising to the enjoyment of the Eternal ones. But scents had a markedly prophylactic use beside their Olympians' appeasing one. […]
In Euripides's famous Helen play, the prophylactic use of fragrant smoke is stressed. The heroine is assumed to have never sailed to Troy but to have been whisked away by the goddess Aphrodite to Egypt and to its ruler Theoclymenus, sworn to her safekeeping. News from the exiled Greek soldier Teucer, washed upon the shores of Egypt, that Menelaus never returned to Greece from Troy and is presumed dead, puts Helen in the perilous position of being available for Theoclymenus to marry. She consults the prophetess Theonoe, sister to Theoclymenus, to find out Menelaus' fate. Theonoe purifies the air of the altar by having the servants burn sulfur and resins, conjuring shadows and images to tell her of her husband's impending return.
On the other hand the philosophical treatment of olfactory excess as a sign of decadence and deviation from the path of a free civilian is palpable through the texts of the classical authors. The Athenian statesman Solon, adored by his fellow citizens for alleviating the accumulated debts of formerly free land owners that had lost their land and freedom to the greedy lending gentry (the famous seisachtheia regulation) tried to ban perfume use altogether. He considered it represented the corrupt—and ethnically dangerous—lifestyle of Persia, Greece's (and for that matter Europe's, since Greece was the critical gateway to gain passage to the continent) prominent enemy.
The article in its entirety can be read on Fragrantica.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
This Month's Popular Posts on Perfume Shrine
-
First things first and if you think you have a lucky bone in your body, do drop a comment regarding the Advent Calendar that Tauer Perfumes ...
-
We have a glorious giveaway today on Perfume Shrine, courtesy of niche perfumer Andy Tauer and his Advent calendar project he conducts every...
-
Listening to the deep baritone of Thorsten Biehl’s voice confirms what I suspected from wearing his perfumes: he does not take fools gladly,...
-
First things first: We are honored to participate for the 6th consecutive year in the Advent Calendar of Tauer Perfumes . You know what thi...
-
Andy Tauer of Tauer Parfums is having his Advent Calendar again this year for the length of December, countring down till Christmas. For the...
-
Niche perfumer Andy Tauer of Swiss brand Tauer Perfumes has been hosting an Advent Giveaway since December 1st, all the way through December...