Born in Nice in 1905, Edmond Roudnitska is considered one of the greatest perfumers of all time. Edmond Roudnitska’s legacy is still felt today and he was the first perfumer who believed that fragrance was art. He released seventeen perfumes to the world while alive and only when he believed the composition was done. In those seventeen perfumes he set the scent style and direction of two of the great designer houses; Rochas and Dior. He composed one perfume for Hermes and his Le Parfum de Therese For Frederic Malle was released after his passing in 1996.
“To create new arrangements, new olfactory forms, it is enough that you think in odours, like the painters in colours, and the musician in sounds.”-Edmond Roudnitska
He began studying perfumery in Grasse in 1926 at the age of 21. In 1927 he moved to Paris, where he worked until 1949. In 1951, he became the perfumer for Hermes. He began his own company, Art et Parfum and moved to Cabris, a beautiful town near Grasse where he lived until his death. It was there that he became the mentor to his protégé, the famous perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena formerly of Hermes.
Rochas Femme: Edmond Roudnitska created Femme at the request of designer Marcel Rochas for Rochas’s third wife Hélène, in 1948. Roudnitska was inspired by one of the most notorious and powerful femme fatales of Old Hollywood– Mae West. The perfumer used Prunol (a synthetic that has a ripe peachy plum aroma) for the sugarplum note and laced the-gourmand tones with lemon and aldehydes balanced with dusty immortelle. At the heart ylang, jasmine, rose, spices and orris rest on a sexy base of civet, musk, amber and benzoin. The bottle suggests the figure of Mae West and the black lace patterns on the box referenced the lacey wasp waist corsets designed by Marcel Rochas. It is considered one of the most classic fragrances in modern perfumery.
Launched in 1949, Edmond Roudnitska composed what is considered one of the most pivotal masculine fragrances of all time, Rochas Moustache. It is said he was inspired by the whiskers of Charles I of England. Brimming with bracing citrus, pleasing aromatic herbs, a dose of leather, and a bit of musk, it is a cologne that is as playful as it is serious; modern as it is classic. Best of all, it has outstanding longevity and is a real crowd pleaser.
Edmond Roudnitska’s most revered perfume is Dior Diorissimo, which in 1955, was a new signature, an ode to spring and to Christian Dior’s favorite flower… muguet (lily of the valley). It has been called the “scent of Mr. Dior’s soul.” It is the standard that all lily of the valley perfumes are measured by. Sheer and green, the aroma of muguet flowers open and surround you. There is the perfect balance of ephemeral beauty and gentle power. A simple trail of sandalwood and civet adds a touch of sexy muskiness and woody finish.
In 1966, Roudnitska revolutionized perfumery with Dior Eau Sauvage a realistic citrus cologne with a synthetic ingredient called Hedione©, that reconstructed the scent of jasmine and is rumored to contain pheromones that attract women. It sets a new standard for what men should smell like, elegant and sophisticated.
Le Parfum de Therese: There has never been a more stunning scented tribute to one’s love than Edmond Roudnitska’s perfume dedicated to his wife, Therese, and from its creation in the 1950s, it was produced for her alone. It was only after Roudnitska’s death that permission was granted via Roudnitska’s son, Michel, for Frederic Malle to produce it as part of the inaugural release of Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle in 2000. Edmond. Roudnitska met Frederic Malle who was the former art director at Dior and showed him the sample, which was code named “The Plum.” Le Parfum de Therese is a complex, multilayered composition of classic notes such as jasmine, violet and rose are woven into a shimmering arrangement alongside– ripe melon, tree fruit and darker notes of leather and cedar. Le Parfum de Therese transports you to the South of France in late spring.
Now that we have taken you through Edmond Roudnitska’s most famous perfumes, head over to Perfume.com to choose your favorite.
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