Guerlain’s Transition to 2011 and Beyond
2010 was a tumultuous year for Guerlain as a house, as the 4th and last generation of Guerlain heirs left the house. For those who aren’t familiar with the background, the elder Jean-Paul Guerlain had his contract with the firm terminated over some very incendiary remarks made on a French television interview, including multiple uses of a racist comment. Obviously, this stirred public outrage, demonstrations, and a call for boycotting the House altogether.
Since there was no 5th generation Guerlain ready to take the helm, a transition plan had been formulated some years before that placed Thierry Wasser as next in line for the role of House Perfumer, a role he assumed earlier than anticipated as a result of Jean-Paul’s termination. It would be very easy to leave that incident as the epitaph to a long career that included many of the mainstay products still a part of the House’s line, and it would be very unfair to discount the relevance of Guerlain’s rich heritage due to his very inappropriate remarks. They’re regrettable, they’re racist, they’re wrong. They’re not the rich heritage that Jean-Paul was instrumental in creating, and I hope that’s where he is best remembered. So while not discounting the very negative impact those words had, Guerlain made the decision to move forward without a Guerlain heir at the helm, and Wasser has already begun making an impact.
Guerlain Shalimar Initial (2011)
One of the issues that befalls some of the famous French perfumers is relevance. While many houses carry a rich heritage, it’s not something that can move them forward with changing market tastes. Yes, classics are just that and they’ll have their place, but a new generation of buyers is entering the marketplace and making their preferences known. Wasser has a massive challenge in making Guerlain relevant to new buyers without alienating the heritage for which it’s known; otherwise, the House would prove to simply be a footnote in history. And in 2011, Wasser made his intentions very clear.
Among those was tinkering with Shalimar. Admittedly, this was something about which I wasn’t thrilled when I first saw Shalimar Parfum Initial, and my first experiences with it were not pleasant memories. This wasn’t Shalimar at all, at least as I’d known it. It didn’t have the vanillas depth of the original, it lacked the incense and leather and resinousness inherent in the legacy creation, it wasn’t cut from exactly the same cloth. It took my wife reminding me how difficult an adjustment Shalimar could be precisely because of that depth and complexity. The update keeps much of that same heritage, but lightens the composition by removing much of the heavy and incense-laden elements, the leather, and becoming somewhat more floral and Iris-driven in the process. Less “ladies who lunch”, more a demographic better suited to our age and younger, all-the-while remaining very relevant.
Le Petite Robe Noire
Next was “La Petite Robe Noire“, a fragrance with a target of a much younger demographic (say 20′s to 30′s). This was a composition which did not draw kind reviews in its first composition (simply titled as above), but 2011 saw an addition to a line which is slated to eventually include five fragrances.
There were likable qualities about the 2009 edition, notably the smoky tea, licorice, almond and Guerlainade mainstay vanilla, and those were precisely the qualities that my wife enjoyed. La Petite Robe Noire 2? Leather, galibanum, and — wait for it — marshmallow. Not a “smores” type of confection but more a patisserie creation that is sugary and creamy in execution, infinitely delicious and far more gourmand. That combination was far more interesting for me, brilliantly composed, well-executed, and universally wearable. The bigger surprise? How I could also enjoy an occasional wear of Robe Noire 2, despite my not falling into the target demographic at all.
Do both of these work for the Guerlain purist or aficionados of the Guerlainade? Perhaps not, nor would I suggest that either are instantly vaulted to a “classic” status. Then again, Jicky was at one time very revolutionary, as was Mitsouko. Not everything can be timeless — for a great example, try wearing Habit Rouge in the context of present-day fragrances. Not every Guerlain fragrance is a niche scent, as seen with Insolence. But every one of these help compose and shape both the heritage and future of the line, and while we may miss some of the masterpiece-worthy work of Jean-Paul’s nose, it will be the newer fragrances that make the house relevant to modern consumers. And that can only be the gateway for them to experience more of those legacy classics that long-time followers have come to understand and appreciate.
As a closing thought, consider this: Coriolan had a relatively short-life as one of Guerlain’s ‘mainstream fragrances’, but anyone with the right nose and memory will recognize its return in a slightly altered form…as L’Ame d’Un Heros. Testament to how everything can evolve in the correct moment and context.
I'm Andrew Buck, the man behind the words. I'm a published author, project management practitioner for over 20 years, work on Wall Street, and am a fragrance aficionado. I've had a passion for fragrance for 30+ years, and enjoy trying scents and adding to an expanding and rotating collection for some time now. This site is dedicated not only to fragrance, but also to the notion that quality matters now more than ever. 
