Tapputi & Co.

Delve into the Tapputi & Co. catalogue and feel inspired as you uncover the stories behind iconic perfumes and modern scents to find your perfect fragrance.

The history of perfumery goes back to the Bronze Age, when early chemists like Taputti developed innovative techniques for crafting distinct fragrances. Her methods and others were passed down through the ages, and the art of scent-making came to Europe via the Romans and the Hungarians with the renowned 14th-century fragrance Hungary Water. Key perfume regions emerged in Italy and France, which still form a huge part of today’s breathtaking perfumery landscape.

One of the oldest perfume houses is French company Guerlain. Founded in 1828, its experts crafted elevated fragrances like Eau de Cologne Impériale for Napoleon III and remained at the cutting-edge of perfumery, experimenting with synthetics in the early 1880s and designing one of the first abstract perfumes, 1889’s Jicky, which came to define the signature Guerlinade accord. Another early proponent of synthetic ingredients was Chanel’s master perfumer, Ernest Beaux. His iconic 1921 fragrance, Chanel No. 5, balanced sparkling aldehydes with rich florals and warming base notes to produce a complex yet unforgettable scent. Over a decade later, Lancôme launched with a collection of five fragrances at the 1935 World’s Fair exhibition in Brussels, before going on to work with top perfumers such as Robert Gonnon, who developed the vibrant 1969 cologne Ô de Lancôme, and Chanel nose Olivier Polge, whose collaboration with Dominique Ropion and Anne Flipo delivered 2012’s floral-gourmand La Vie est Belle.

French designer Christian Dior formed his eponymous fashion house in 1946 and released a sophisticated chypre called Miss Dior just one year later. Influenced by François Coty’s legendary Chypre, its striking contrast of floral and spicy accords went on to inspire more contemporary perfumes. Meanwhile, after more than a century at the forefront of luxury goods, Hermès established Comptoir Nouveau de la Parfumerie. For its 1951 debut, Eau d’Hermès, master perfumer Edmond Roudnitska recreated the refined aroma of the brand’s iconic leather bags. Two years later, American cosmetics company Estée Lauder achieved overnight success with the dual-purpose fragrance, Youth-Dew. A bath oil and a perfume, it lingered strongly on the skin when added to bath water, allowing women to experience its seductively exotic scent as a daily luxury.

In the 1960s, two more self-named French brands, Yves Saint Laurent and Paco Rabanne, launched debut fragrances. The former released Y in 1964, its elegant notes of gardenia, honeysuckle and oakmoss complemented by its distinctive bottle, which evokes the female form. Rabanne’s 1969 perfume, Calandre, was even bolder, with a beautiful feminine aroma that inspired Saint Laurent’s popular Rive Gauche. Equally influential was the label’s first male fragrance, 1973’s aromatic fougère Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, whose fresh, crisp notes informed Saint Laurent’s impactful 1981 perfume Kouros.

Italian fashion houses have also been prominent perfume producers, with Gucci and Giorgio Armani two of the most celebrated. Instituted in 1921, Gucci released its first woman’s scent, Gucci No. 1, in 1974, two years before the men’s fragrance, Gucci Pour Homme. In the interim, Giorgio Armani was established, with its debut perfume, Armani, following in the early 1980s. A strong, sophisticated chypre floral in a chic bottle, it paved the way for the brand’s first men’s perfume, 1984’s Armani Eau Pour Homme, and a series of popular 1990s florals including Acqua Di Gio.

The early 1980s saw maiden perfumes from several European fashion houses, beginning with Burberry. Formed in 1856, the British company released Burberry for Men in 1981, followed by its first feminine scent in 1995, the floral-fruity Burberry for Women. Meanwhile, Italian luxury label Versace, which was set up in 1978, brought out the glamorous, oriental-floral Gianni Versace for Women, leading to a lineage of bold scents known for their distinctive containers such as the cola-style bottles of 1994’s Blue Jeans and Red Jeans.

During the mid-to-late 1980s, German fashion company Hugo Boss entered the perfume industry with an aromatic fougère called Boss. Now known as Boss Number One, it preceded a successful fragrance line featuring classics like 1995’s Hugo and the 1997 floral-fruity women’s perfume Hugo Woman. In 1988, Venezuelan-American fashion designer Carolina Herrera, whose namesake clothing brand was less than a decade old, partnered with Spanish beauty company Puig to create a set of fragrances opening with the timeless white floral scent Carolina Herrera by Carolina Herrera.

Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana entered the fragrance market in the early 1990s with the couple’s set Pour Homme and Pour Femme and soon received the first of many industry awards for its sensual, high-fashion fragrances. Around the same time, Prada debuted an exclusive boutique perfume, then waited over a decade to release its next as part of the 2003 Exclusive Scents collection. Made up of single-note, artisan fragrances, it set the stage for 2004’s Amber Woman and its masculine counterpart, Amber Men, both of which were known for their contemporary take on traditional amber notes.

The effects of this rich history can be seen in the diverse landscape of olfactory experiences on offer today. With so many options to choose from, the possibilities for self-expression are vast, and yet it can be difficult to identify your ideal scent. Fortunately, Tapputi & Co.’s perfume finder features a curated selection of fragrances alongside fascinating stories to inform and inspire as you make that all-important decision. Explore our Archive and discover the histories of the world’s most iconic perfumes and scent-makers, or peruse our Catalogue to uncover your next signature fragrance.