In the late 20th century, the women’s perfume Guy Laroche J’ai Ose was at the height of its popularity. Unfortunately, today you can no longer buy it. The authors of the magazine Fashion Illiteracy have decided to tell the story of the fragrance’s emergence. We also aim to uncover the reasons for its oblivion.
The History of the Fragrance
The perfume was released in 1977 (according to some versions, in 1978). It was created by Max Gavarry, the parfumer.
The product was actively promoted and sold by the company Lancôme, under the patronage of the large French conglomerate L’Oréal, which specializes in perfumery and cosmetics.
It is known that $200,000 was spent just on the premiere in Paris. The presentation was attended by 1,000 guests, including the 13th Duke of Bedford, John Russell, his wife, Duchess Nicole Russell, Count of Paris, Henri d’Orléans, Iranian princess Soraya Esfandiari, and businesswoman Dewi Sukarno.
The solemn event took place at the Paradis Latin, a Parisian theater-restaurant.
In addition to France, a closed fashion show presentation with 500 attendees was held in Sydney, at the City Hall. The decor, featuring flowers, tablecloths, and napkins, matched the burgundy color of the packaging.
The Sydney evening cost $100,000. Besides the fragrance premiere, it also featured a fashion show of a new clothing collection.
The perfume had a distinctive glass bottle with a stopper resembling a hat. In addition to the perfume, a whole series of cosmetics with the same name was released, including soap, eau de toilette, and powder.
Meaning of the Perfume Name
If translated literally from French, the name J’ai Ose means “I dare.”
In turn, Guy Laroche is a trademark named after the designer who founded it.
Composition of the Fragrance
The top notes include galbanum, citrus oils, aldehydes, chamomile, peach, and coriander.
The middle notes feature myrtle, cedar, ylang-ylang, nutmeg, clove, rose, sandalwood, jasmine, iris, and vetiver.
In the base notes, you can detect vanilla, pepper, balm of Gilead, frankincense, olibanum, leather, amber, alpine oakmoss, Tibetan musk, patchouli, and benzoin.
Why Guy Laroche J’ai Ose Is No Longer Produced
Today, you cannot purchase a new bottle of the legendary perfume in any store. They were discontinued after the 1980s. There are numerous ads online selling original specimens preserved by collectors from that time, but at significantly inflated prices.
There is a version that Guy Laroche kept the unique recipe strictly secret and never shared it with anyone, resulting in the original production recipe being lost after his death. Moreover, it is believed that he himself prohibited further production of the perfume.
Later, eau de toilette was still being sold, but under the brand Parfums Paris and in bottles different from the classic ones. However, currently this version of the eau de toilette is mostly unavailable for purchase when examining the catalogs of popular stores.
Currently, only custom replicas and individual specimens that have been preserved are offered for sale.
Let’s remind that earlier we talked about the little black dress by Chanel.
