Lightyears Collection
Coty

François Coty 1887-1934

François Coty: The Early Years

François Coty was born and raised in Corsica. As a young man he did military service and sold women's accessories in Marseilles. In 1900 he moved to Paris and was mentored by his former military commander, a man of some social standing. In the same year he married.

In Paris, Coty again found employment selling women's fashion accessories. Through fortunate circumstances, he met a chemist (pharmacist) who made and sold his own eau de Cologne. Coty tried doing it himself, his friend encouraged him and advised him to take formal training from an established perfumer at Grasse, the center of the French perfume industry.

Coty followed his friend's advice and managed to get himself admitted to the perfumery school run by Chiris, one of the oldest and largest of the Grasse perfume houses. After less than a year, Coty returned to Paris and began creating and attempting to sell his own perfume. Initially he met with rejection.

In 1904, after a flamboyant demonstration, Coty got an order for twelve bottles of his latest creation, La Rose Jacqueminot, from the Grands Magasins du Louvres, a major Parisian department store. Additional orders came quickly and, with assistance from Chiris and others, Coty found himself becoming famous — and rich.

Early Coty Fragrances (1900's to 1932)

Please note: great uncertainty surrounds the dates of creation of many of these fragrances. Some sources vary by as much as ten years as to the date of creation of a particular fragrance. Likewise, while we know that François Coty was a hands on perfumer and ultimately responsible for all of this perfumes during his lifetime, we also know that he employed an array of technicians and perfumers, his goal being production ... keeping the public supplied. Likewise, while Rene Lalique and Baccarat designed bottles for him, Coty developed his own bottle making operation and, no doubt, the services of less well known creators. The information below has been gathered from a number of often conflicting sources. It should not be accepted as definitive. If you have knowledge about any of the fragrances listed below, please share it with us using the message sender at the bottom of this page.

Coty Fragrances: 1933 to 1949

Coty Fragrances: 1950 to Present

If you have any information you would like to share with us about François Coty or the Coty company, please use the message sender below.

• Phil, 03/16/2018.
  You'll find it here:
  http://www.perfumeprojects.com/museum/bottles/Emeraude.shtml

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• Adrienne Goudreau, 03/16/2018. You are missing emeraude 1921
  

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• -, 04/25/2008.
  Octavian Sever Coifan, in his 1000fragrances blog, notes the simplicity of the formulas for Francois Coty's early fragrances. To read about these formulas and some of the ingredients, go to:
  
  http://1000fragrances.blogspot.com/2007/08/franois-cotys-formulas.html