My aunt, who was the perfumista in the family, wore the glorious green chypre  Carven Ma Griffe, (composed by master perfumer Jean Carles in 1947),  with its pungent galbanum,gardenia and sparkling aldehydes. As most of the women in my family wore Youth Dew, Jean Nate and Joy, Ma Griffe  seemed incredibly sophisticated in comparision, like my well traveled Aunt. It was her signature.

 66 years after Ma Griffe's creation, The House of Carven is staging its comeback in the world of fragrance, and today began selling a new women’s scent, Carven Le Parfum, exclusively in Colette Paris and through colette.fr. The House of Carven enlisted another master perfumer, Francis Kurkdjian to create Carven Le Parfum, which includes notes of mandarin flower and white hyacinth in the top; sweet pea, jasmine and ylang-ylang in the heart, then sandalwood, osmanthus and Indonesian patchouli in the base. This is the first fragrance for Carven under the guidance of Creative Director Guillaume Henry.

.According to WWD,"After a month at Colette, Carven Le Parfum will be introduced in France’s Galeries Lafayette, Printemps and Sephora doors. Its international rollout includes a month-long exclusive in Harrods in the U.K. starting on May 3. During its first year on the market, the scent is expected to be in no more than 2,000 sales points worldwide, according to Nicolas Dewitte, deputy general manager at Groupe Jacques Bogart”.

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  by gone eras

 The eau de parfum comes in 30-, 50- and 100-ml. versions that are to retail in France for 45 euros, or $59.10 at current exchange; 65 euros, or $85.40, and 85 euros, or $111.70. The line includes ancillaries, as well.

 

Source: Women’s Wear Daily

–Michelyn Camen, Editor-In-Chief