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Parfums D'Orsay was established in 1865. Its first product, L'Eau de Bouquet, was said to be a perfume created by the firm's namesake, Count Alfred D'Orsay, who had died thirteen years before Parfums D'Orsay was born.
Companie Française des Parfums d'Orsay was established in 1908. In 1995 the D'Orsay name was, once again, revived (they are still struggling to get their website up).
During the first half of the 20th Century, D'Orsay was a major marketer of perfumes promoted for their image more than for their fragrance. The image of the D'Orsay fragrances was based on the life and legend of Count Alfred D'Orsay (1801-1852), best known for his role in the fashion world as a "Dandy", second only in Dandism to England's Beau Brummel.
But D'Orsay was also known to have been a talented sketch artist as can be seen in his work that has survived. He was also alleged to have been an amateur perfumer.
The amateur perfumer claim is made more credible by the observations of his contemporaries that he was known for wearing six pair of gloves a day — reindeer gloves for his morning ride, chamois gloves for hunting, beaver gloves for the ride to London, braided kid gloves for afternoon shopping, yellow dogskin gloves for a dinner party, and finally, lambskin gloves embroidered with silk for an evening ball.
The significance of the gloves is, of course, in their relationship to perfume. Glove makers and perfume makers were part of the same (French) guild — the guild which was to establish Grasse as the heart of French perfumery. (Grasse's glovemakers had begun to develop perfumes to knock the stench out of the leather from which their gloves were made.)
This possible thread of relationship between D'Orsay and perfume was enough to spark the creation of Parfums D'Orsay. But it was the long dead Count's social connections and high fashion lifestyle that powered the marketing efforts of Parfums D'Orsay. D'Orsay's fragrances were given names that related to Count D'Orsay themes, the most obvious being the 1923 introduction of Le Dandy, a direct reference to the dead Count. It is likely that other D'Orsay fragrance names had "insider" meanings not understood by the general, perfume buying public.
What We Don't Know About D'Orsay
In fact, we know next to nothing about the company itself. There is no living presence, no Coty, no Daltroff, no Poiret, no Chanel, no Balmain, no Nina Ricci, no Britney Spears, no J.Lo. The only "name" connected with the company — Count Alfred D'Orsay — was long dead before the company was born and could hardly be considered a businessman, investor or promoter. So who were the individuals — or corporations — behind Parfums D'Orsay? How did they decide to form the company? We simply do not know.
Nor do we know who created the D'Orsay fragrances other than the one — L'Eau de Bouquet — that is attributed to Count D'Orsay. Did D'Orsay have an in-house perfumer? Did they use a string of freelance perfumers? Did they have a relationship with a company such as Roure Bertrand Fils that would provide them with new fragrances on demand? We simply do not know.
What We Do Know About D'Orsay
D'Orsay employed leading glassmakers to create its bottles. These included René Lalique (who came into bottle making reluctantly but then thrived at it) and Baccarat. We also know that several of the D'Orsay bottles have gained more prominence in recent years than the fragrances they once held.
We also know of that D'Orsay that they were well up on trends in their own niche. They had sales outlets in Paris, London, New York and elsewhere in Europe. They were quick to see what was succeeding for others and come out with their own products on the same theme, i.e., Chypre and Muguet.
In many ways, D'Orsay, with roots in the last quarter of the 19th Century — pre-Coty — was a marketing powerhouse that used many of the selling techniques associated with perfume marketing in our own era — famous names, targeted niches, lots of introductions. They were obviously a good account for the companies that supplied their bottles, packaging, fragrance and advertising.
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