Audrey Hepburn loved this emblematic fragrance signed by a large French house. You surely know him.
There are perfumes that mark history. Those whose smell, name or bottle we all know. Most of them have been sold by thousands for decades, and have become real references to perfumery. This is the case of the favorite fragrance of Audrey Hepburn, now essential in the world of scents. Created by a large French designer, she pays tribute to the talent and the beauty of the actress.
It all started in 1957, when Hubert de Givenchy developed for his muse, Audrey Hepburn, a perfume. Classic and refined at the same time, this powdery and wooded juice then combines Bulgarian rose, jasmine, cloves, pepper, violet and iris. Imagined by the perfumer Francis Fabron, he thus evokes the sensuality and the complexity of the one who inspired him. When Hubert de Givenchy asks the actress if he can market the perfume, she responds in the negative. “”I ban it from you!“, She insists. But the creator does only his head and still launches the fragrance. You will have guessed it, this is how the prohibition of Givenchy, the signature smell of Audrey Hepburn was born.
But beware, the version we know today has little in common with that created in the 1950s. Indeed, it disappears for the first time from traffic to return in 2007: a very slightly modified version finds its place in the collection of mythical perfumes of Givenchy. Again kidnapped from the market, it makes its comeback in 2018 in the form that we now know. Thus, it opens on an association of bergamot and pear, which gently gives way to orange blossom, jasmine (this is perhaps its only common point with the original version), and the tuberose. Finally, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla and Ambroxan remain in substantive notes. Both chic and singular, but still as sensual, this new facet of the ban on a pink and refined bottle.
Ultimate wink: his muse is none other than Rooney Mara, nicknamed the Audrey Hepburn of modern times due to her resemblance to British legend. She even had to interpret the star of Breakfast at Tiffany’s In a biopic produced by Lucas Guadagnino (Challengers, call me by your name…), But the project was finally abandoned.
