Monsieur de Givenchy, the reference for masculine elegance. Count Hubert de Givenchy was only 24 years old when he presented his first collection, Givenchy University.
When Mr. Hubert Givenchy opened his fashion house in 1957, he simultaneously introduced two distinguished feminine perfumes: Le Dé and L'Interdit. Both quickly became great successes, and it goes without saying that the man would not stop there, presenting only two years later a duo of chic and dandy masculine perfumes: Eau de Vétiver and the now legendary Monsieur.
The meeting between Francis Fabron and Hubert Givenchy gave rise to the so chic Monsieur
When Hubert Givenchy launched into feminine perfumery with a certain success, he decided to call on the very famous perfumer Francis Fabron to compose the two masculine fragrances he wanted to bring to life. And the least one can say is that Francis Fabron had, since 1948, with the magnificent joyful bouquet of L'Air du Temps by Nina Ricci, become a perfumer renowned for his precision, his originality and his sophisticated floral art.
Thus, Givenchy's first two masculine perfumes reflected this meeting between a demanding and elegant couturier and a perfumer as gifted as he was creative. For the beautiful Monsieur de Givenchy would be nothing like the other masculine perfumes of the time. Indeed, there were not really any masculine perfumes but rather eaux de Cologne, which would change definitively with the appearance of Monsieur de Givenchy, so much did men crave novelty.
The man of the 1960s became a man who no longer wished only to wear eau de Cologne to smell clean, he sought to assert himself, to assert his personality, his elegance or his virility, and it is precisely to this demand that Monsieur de Givenchy would respond in every respect.
The perfume Monsieur has embodied masculine seduction in the French style since 1959. It is aimed at elegant and refined men, down to the scent they leave behind them. Marie-Claire on Monsieur de Givenchy.
Monsieur de Givenchy, the first true masculine perfume of modern perfumery
Just as he had known how to render it wonderfully ten years earlier with L'Air du Temps, Francis Fabron composed for these gentlemen a perfume that captures with precision what men want, even venturing certain audacities to better seduce with fine novelties.
Thus the citrus-aromatic opening of Monsieur seems relatively comforting and undoubtedly recalls the eaux de Cologne traditionally used by men. It is in the heart that Monsieur creates surprise, offering fresh and powerful aromatic notes of basil, clary sage and lavender mixed with sparkling orange. Finally, the depths of Monsieur are entirely unprecedented, for, for the first time in perfumery, Monsieur possesses a powerful sillage composed notably of the unforgettable civet, which brings to the sophisticated freshness of Monsieur an absolute virility and a few oriental accents.
[…] Monsieur was created in 1959 as a new vision of masculinity. Since then, it has remained regarded as the quintessence of masculine seduction in the French style and of impeccable elegance. Givenchy on Monsieur.