Madame Carven with a model ca. 1950's

In the 1940’s, a petite woman in her twenties named Carmen de Tomasso chose a new name for herself, Marie-Louise Carven, and embarked on a fashion career that would span decades. Specializing in clothing for smaller women like herself, her simple, wearable styling brought her flocks of happy customers and made Carven a beloved fashion house. In 1993, at the age of eighty-four, she left fashion design to focus on her passion for antiquities. She was born in 1909, and is still with us. In 2009, a new creative director, Guillaume Henry, came aboard and has focused the fashion house on inspired and accessible ready-to-wear.

Brynja Jónbjarnardóttir

 

The House of Carven has always been known for one venerable perfume: Ma Griffe, launched in 1946*. In 2013, M. Henry chose perfumer Francis Kurkdjian to create a new perfume for a new Carven audience, Le Parfum. Based on the simplicity of a spring bouquet, the perfume is lively and fresh, and a well-executed entry into the floral genre. The model used in the ad campaign, Brynja Jónbjarnardóttir, reflects the target customer for this perfume perfectly: young, a bit winsome, but playful and lovely.

 

I gave Le Parfum a full wearing on a drizzly, chilly day and I am pleased to say it held its own. Le Parfum opens crisply, with a slightly spicy hyacinth note. The bouquet unfolds as time goes on, allowing fruitier notes of sweetpea and ylang-ylang to shine with the more heady jasmine. As I went about my day, I was visited by tender wisps of fragrance, and I felt quite feminine and elegant. M. Kurkdjian blended the diverse floral notes with consummate skill. His addition of the sueded apricot of osmanthus to the base was an inspired touch, as it gives the fragrance maturity and elevates it beyond the basic youth-market fruity floral.

Madame Carmen de Tomasso

When I got my sample, the Sales Associate told me that Madame Carven had approved of this perfume. I love to think of this tiny, fierce woman in her hundreds giving the thumbs-up to this lively fragrance aimed at women who are the age she was when she started building her empire.

Notes: mandarin flower, white hyacinth, sweet pea, jasmine, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, osmanthus, Indonesian patchouli.

I received my sample from Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco. Le Parfum is at Saks and other fine retailers. Body milk and deodorant are also available.

Tama Blough, Deputy Editor

What fragrances or fashion/perfume houses from the past would you like to see revitalized for a modern audience?

*Note: Ma Griffe, which was created in 1946 by Master Perfumer Jean Carles, was recently reissued (supposedly unchanged), and I hope to review it soon.

Editor's Note:  Carven joins such Houses as Courreges in re-inventing their legacy for the modern era, a trend that has been coming on strong over the past two years, as we yearn for venerable brands of  bygone eras. Congratulations Tama on your promotion to Deputy Editor.