Houbigant

1775

Operating since 1775, the House of Houbigant is the only fragrance house that has existed through four centuries of history. Through these centuries, the perfumers of the House of Houbigant have made groundbreaking discoveries in the formulation of perfumes that have revolutionized forever the way perfumes are constructed. It is not an exaggeration to say that, without the House of Houbigant, modern perfumery as we know it today would not exist. Over the centuries, the House of Houbigant became perfumer to the royal courts of Europe. Josephine, the future Empress of France, belonged to a group of stylish young men and women called “The Muscadins” because of their craze for musk which was Josephine’s favourite essence. Houbigant fragrances travelled in Napoleon’s campaign chest during the years when he was conquering Europe.

1815

In the spring of 1815 Napoleon was only in Paris for three months, a period that history calls “The Hundred Days”. In those brief months he raised an army and yet found time to shop at Houbigant.

1829

In 1829, Houbigant was appointed perfumer to Her Royal Highness, the Princess Adelaide d’Orleans, sister of King Louis-Philippe.

1838

In 1838, the French house was awarded the license of “Perfumer to Her Majesty, Queen Victoria of England”. Czar Alexander III named Houbigant perfumer to the Imperial Court of Russia in 1890. Houbigant created a perfume, “The Czarina Bouquet”, in honor of the Empress, Maria Fyodorovna.

1882

In 1882, Perfumer Paul Parquet introduced Fougère Royale, a fragrance that would define a new category of perfumes — the “fougère” (or fern-like) fragrance family, which is still today the most popular family in men fragrances.

1912

In 1912, Houbigant perfumer Bienaimé picked up the ball from Paul Parquet and introduced Quelque Fleurs, one of Houbigant’s all-time great fragrances and the first multi-floral bouquet ever created.

1935-1941

During this period, Houbigant stretched out its commercial arms around the world. Under the direction of the Paris office, offices were established in the United States, England, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania. Connections were made in Havana, Buenos-Aires, Rio-de-Janeiro, Australia, Japan, and China.