Lancôme

About the house

Lancôme began in 1935 as a fragrance house, founded by Guillaume d'Ornano and his partner Armand Petitjean. Petitjean is described as a former associate of François Coty, and d'Ornano started the house the year after Coty died. The name comes from the Lancosme area of the Brenne region in central France, and d'Ornano's wife Elisabeth is said to have chosen it. The roses around the ruins of the Lancosme castle led Petitjean to create the single-rose emblem.

The first five fragrances, Tendre Nuit, Bocages, Conquête, Kypre and Tropiques, were launched in time for the 1935 World's Fair in Brussels. Skincare followed in 1936 with Nutrix, an all-purpose repair cream. A trade catalogue from July 1945, now held by the Smithsonian Libraries, describes the bottle and packaging of each scent and puts the rose emblem on a gold ground on its cover.

L'Oréal took over the house in the 1960s. Most sources say 1964, while a business-history entry says L'Oréal bought Jacques Fath perfumes that year and Lancôme a year later, so the dates differ. By L'Oréal's 1985 reorganization, Lancôme sat with Piaubert in a department of the Parfums et Beauté division. Business press lists it among the group's best-known names, sold in over 150 countries.

Miracle arrived in 2000. Idôle was announced on 2 July 2019 and reached stores on 22 August, created by three perfumers: Shyamala Maisondieu, Adriana Medina and Nadège Le Garlantezec. Lancôme describes it as a musky chypre floral, "verdant and tender, fresh and voluptuous".

In 2005 the house began reissuing older scents as La Collection Lancôme. Isabella Rossellini, the first face of Lancôme, returned as ambassador in 2016, ten years after Clive Owen became the brand's first male spokesperson.