History of the House of Lubin - LUBIN ® Perfumes

Colourised old photograph: a delivery man in a dark suit and white cap, one hand on his hip, poses in front of a black delivery van with the name Lubin painted on its side in cursive script beneath a small floral bouquet, on cobblestones lined with trees.

Painted portrait of Pierre-François Lubin, the founder: a grey-haired man in a dark coat, high white cravat and pale yellow waistcoat, against a brown background.

THE FOUNDING FATHER

In a Paris still reeling from the turmoil of the Revolution, Pierre-François Lubin founded in the late 18th century a house that his unique talent would make famous. It consisted in the ability of enhancing—through a scent creation tailored to each individual’s personality—the aura of those who wished their presence to be known, and to leave a spectacular scented trail.

Introduced to the art of perfumery in 1784 by Jean-Louis Fargeon, perfumer to Queen Marie-Antoinette, Lubin lived until the early days of the Second Empire, when the Industrial Revolution was already in full swing. He thus went through one of the most turbulent periods in French history. In 1792, he joined the workshop of master perfumer Tombarelli in Grasse, who introduced him to the secrets of Renaissance Florentine perfumery. He went on to create the first perfumes that did not draw their inspiration from nature.

For Lubin, the olfactory vocabulary was a language rich in imagery. He later inspired his student Septimus Piesse, a Briton, who was the first theorist of the science of perfumery. Lubin was a pioneer in his art.

Antique colour engraving of two elegant ladies of the Directoire, one sheltering under a green parasol and the other in a long yellow gown with a train, facing two dandies in blue coats, bicorne hats and boots.

Antique colour drawing of the Lubin shopfront in Paris, with the signs FABRIQUE DE PARFUMERIE SUPERFINE and LUBIN PARFUMERIE, a horse-drawn carriage and passers-by in period dress in front of the windows.

AU BOUQUET DE ROSES

After the Revolution, Pierre-François Lubin opened his shop, named “Au Bouquet de Roses,” near the Palais-Royal in Paris. The dandies of the time — “les Incroyables” and “les Merveilleuses”— were the true pioneers of fashion. With sartorial eccentricity now permitted for all, they embodied a new lifestyle, marked by whimsy and even carefree abandon. In the wake of the revolutionaries’ egalitarianism, everyone wanted to assert again their personality through a unique, fragrant aura.

Full-length painted portrait of Pauline Borghese, standing in a pale satin Empire gown embroidered with gold, a diadem and strings of pearls, one hand resting on a marble bust pedestal, the other holding a fan, before a red banquette and a heavy drape with gold fringes.

Handwritten letter in brown ink on old foxed paper, headed by the secretary of commands of Princess Pauline Borghese, Duchess of Guastalla, authorising its recipient to take the title of her perfume merchant, the letter serving as a warrant.

OFFICIAL SUPPLIER

It was Lubin who gave each person their own olfactory signature. One of “les Merveilleuses,” Joséphine de Beauharnais, who had narrowly escaped the guillotine, became emperor Napoleon Ist ’s wife. An admirer of the perfumer’s creations, she invited the emperor’s favourite sister, Pauline, Princess Borghese, to visit the perfumer’s workshop.

In homage to the charming Pauline, Lubin invented the “Bouquet Borghese”, thanks to which she left an unforgettable fragrant trail wherever she went. As a token of gratitude, Pauline appointed Lubin as her official supplier in 1808.

Engraved letterhead of the House of Lubin, “Aux Armes de France”, perfumer-distiller on rue Sainte-Anne in Paris, adorned with crowned coats of arms and seals, followed by a handwritten invoice in brown ink.

Painted portrait of a young woman in a red velvet gown with puffed sleeves and lace, wearing a diamond diadem topped with white feathers, before a green drape.

AUX ARMES DE FRANCE

Charlotte of France, Marie Antoinette’s only child to have survived the Revolution, became his favourite client during the Restoration. In 1824, she even allowed him to rename his Parisian boutique “aux Armes de France.”

This illustrious patronage gave him access to numerous European monarchs, who commissioned him to create their personal scents, such as King George IV of England and Tsar Alexander 1st. Marie-Amélie, wife of King Louis-Philippe, who ascended the throne in 1830, granted him her official patent in 1834, and made him a “supplier to the Queen.”

Old sepia photograph of a large three-storey white building with many shuttered windows, topped by a flagpole and surrounded by a garden with formal paths, hills in the background.

Antique photographic portrait, head and shoulders, of a mature man with full sideburns and beard, wearing a monocle and a dark frock coat over a white shirt with a wide bow.

Old photograph of a perfumery workshop: women workers in aprons, seated on stools on either side of a long table, fill stacked frames beneath a pendant lamp, flowers strewn across the tiled floor.

THE SUCCESSION, PARIS, AND THE FRENCH RIVIERA

In 1844, his former apprentice Félix Prot, who had worked

alongside him for 20 years, took over the business. The man whom Lubin considered “his spiritual heir” then developed a global distribution network spanning every continent. Eager to ensure the quality of his supply of valuable ingredients, he built in Cannes, on the French Riviera, the first modern factory in

1873. Dedicated to the extraction of essential oils in Cannes, traditional distillation methods would be for the first time replaced by steam engines. His son and successor, Paul Prot, took over in 1885. He travelled the globe for 50 years to build an international network. As a result, the House of Lubin gained worldwide renown.

Antique postcard of the Lubin factory in Courbevoie: the two-storey building bears the sign “Parfumerie Lubin” on its facade, a tall chimney rises behind it and carts loaded with crates stand before the entrance.

View of the laboratory at the Courbevoie factory: employees in white coats work around a long table covered with cans and carboys, large metal drums standing on the floor.

Oval engraved label: a Lubin eau de toilette bottle with a red wax seal, framed by the words EAU DE TOILETTE above and LUBIN below, with the words Anno 1798 on either side.

COURBEVOIE FACTORY

Finally, in 1900, Paul Prot opened an ultra-modern perfume and soap factory in Courbevoie, on the outskirts of Paris.

His sons, Marcel and Pierre Prot, took over as heads of the company in the early 1920s.

Antique colour advertisement for Nuit de Longchamp perfume: on a green garden chair, an open cream gift box reveals a glass bottle with a chased stopper, beside a cane and a red and green silk hat; at the bottom of the plate, the words “Nuit de Longchamp”, “parfum”, “LUBIN” and “Paris-France”.

Painted advertising plate: a flat amber glass bottle carved with flowers and birds and bearing an orange label “Monjoly — Lubin — Paris France”, set before a green and violet moulded bottle, against a blue sky crossed by a flowering branch.

Detail of an advertising plate: the large moulded crystal bottle of Océan Bleu, shell-shaped with its blue label, before a blue-green lacquered panel decorated with a tree and stylised golden waves.

Colour advertising plate on an aqua green background: two yellow octagonal bottles with blue and gold labels, two elongated orange boxes edged in blue and a round box holding a third bottle; at the bottom, the word “Montrosia” in pen script above the words “Lubin” and “Paris”.

THE ROARING TWENTIES

Hand-coloured lithograph titled “The Declaration Committee”: five committee members, including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, gathered around a table with a red cloth to draft the American Declaration of Independence.

Painted portrait of Thomas Jefferson, in a powdered wig, dark coat and white lace jabot, before a red drape.

Old black-and-white photograph of an elderly man in a dark three-piece suit, seated in a leather armchair; below the image, a handwritten caption reads “M. Theo. E. Studley New York 1898”.

Antique hand-coloured map titled “Map of the Gold Regions of California”, showing the territories of the American West and the sea routes to California, with two columns of printed text.

THE CONQUEST OF THE WEST

Lubin’s first famous client in the United States, starting in 1806, was Thomas Jefferson, who had met Lubin—then an apprentice—at Fargeon’s shop before the Revolution.

Thanks to the future third President of the United States, the House of Lubin conquered the New World as early as the beginning of the 19th century.

Lubin actually began to flourish in America in the 1830s, when its first representative, Theo Studley, who was based in New York, took charge.

Lubin first gained favour with the planter families of the Old South and the cultured elites of the East Coast. By accompanying the pioneers of the Westward Expansion, Theo Studley enabled the Parisian house to establish itself throughout the United States. When Theo retired in 1898, a subsidiary was established in New York.

The next 30 years were a Golden Age for Lubin in the United States, lasting until the Great Depression of 1929. Although the American branch closed its doors in 1930, a new representative took over distribution of the house’s products.

They still enjoyed great success in the 1930s among American ladies of the upper class. Their scents enchanted many a “parties” in New York, Hollywood, and the Hamptons.

The Gin Fizz bottle, in frosted glass with a baluster shape, topped by a wide black lacquered stopper, with a square label reading “Gin Fizz Lubin” hanging from a black cord.

Black-and-white photograph of two men in suits in a panelled office: one standing, the other seated at a desk strewn with papers, beside a black telephone.

Colour advertising photograph of two Eau Neuve bottles in amber glass, one rectangular bearing the words “Eau Neuve”, the other cylindrical and fluted, both topped with tortoiseshell-effect stoppers, on a dark red background.

Black-and-white photograph taken from a low angle: two men, one in a white coat, the other in a suit, surrounded by essence bottles and long blotters in a perfumer’s laboratory.

THE POSTWAR GENERATION

André and Paul Prot, respectively the sons of Marcel and Pierre, took the head of the company at the end of World War II.

The sublime perfume Gin Fizz, created in 1955 by Henri Giboulet, then Lubin’s house perfumer, as a tribute to the most elegant woman of her century, Grace Kelly, was a huge success in both Europe and the United States.

Once again, Lubin left its very chic mark on signature perfumery.

Paul and André remained at the helm of the House until the late 1960s, achieving another major success in 1968 with L’Eau Neuve. Then, after being sold to a German group, Lubin experienced a temporary decline, gradually losing ground over the years against the new competition of designer fragrances.

Black-and-white photograph of a perfumer in a dark jacket and white shirt, leaning over a table covered with test bottles, a fan of blotters in hand, before a framed portrait hanging on the wall.

Lubin bottle with a curved body filled with pale golden juice, gilded neck and a light veined stone stopper, photographed on a white background.

Perspective view of a Lubin retail corner: dark wood and brass structure, LUBIN PARIS signs, lit shelves lined with bottles, a green banquette, a stool and a patterned rug.

Close-up of the gilded vertical slats of a shop fitting, with the engraved inscription “Lubin Paris” partly in frame.

Close-up of large curved lacquered forms in amber orange and glossy black, a detail of a shop interior.

Lubin Kigriz bottle on a light grey background: clear glass, gilded neck bearing the word LUBIN, domed deep green stopper and the name KIGRIZ in gold lettering on the body.

FORGING THE FUTURE

Synonymous with personal and timeless elegance, Lubin’s fragrances are produced and distributed only in very limited quantities, allowing the brand to use the rarest and hardest-to-find natural ingredients. Since the turn of the century, the house has continued to release new creations, and Lubin has gradually regained the renown it enjoyed among connoisseurs in its heyday. Remaining true to its founder’s ideals, the House creates original fragrances for a select clientele, that will continue to enchant future generations for years to come.

The unwavering support of Paul Prot’s two sons at the end of the 20th century made it possible to regain control of the House of Lubin.

Unlike fashion designers—who are “artisans of appearances”—Lubin the perfumer remains “an artist of presence,” a quality he enhances in all those who place their trust in him.