Paris: Capital of Guerlain

Laurence Benaim, a journalist and fashion writer, has written many books including Fashion and Versailles (Flammarion, 2018), Lancel: Parisian Maison since 1876 (2016), Women in Dior: Portraits of Elegance (Rizzoli, 2016), Dior: The New Look Revolution (Rizzoli, 2015), and a biography of Yves Saint-Laurent. She created the style supplement for the French newspaper Le Monde, and has contributed to Vogue and Marie-Claire. She is an editorial advisor for Le Figaro.

The house of Guerlain is an institution of Parisian life. Its clientele has included royalty, empresses, celebrities, writers, and artists, and it has been featured in novels, song lyrics, movies, and artistic creations, all while exemplifying Parisian savoir-faire and luxury. Their headquarters and laboratory on the rue de Rivoli in the heart of Paris feature a new scent laboratory and a rose garden, which roots the famous house to the city of light that it so perfectly captures in each bottle of perfume.

Traveling across the history of Guerlain over two centuries, this book highlights the inextricable links between the house and the city of Paris, how Guerlain changed Parisian life with its cosmetics and perfumes and how it could have existed nowhere but Paris. Guerlain's creations, especially its perfumes, are seen in their historical and cultural context of the city and times, through a combination of interviews, images, and portraits of people and products which played a part in the house's history. The perfect book for lovers of fashion, of Parisian life and savoir-faire, of scents and beauty products, of history-anyone will find value and beauty in this celebration of Guerlain, the quintessential Parisian perfumer.