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Luxury

STYLE Edit: How Henry Jacques’ Les Classiques collection built a niche foundation for the French luxury perfumer – the 50 scents in crystal bottles created by Christophe Tollemer evoke individuality

STORYSCMP Style Reporter
The haute perfumer Henry Jacques’ Les Classiques collection – 50 scents in crystal bottles created by artistic director Christophe Tollemer. Photos: Henry Jacques
The haute perfumer Henry Jacques’ Les Classiques collection – 50 scents in crystal bottles created by artistic director Christophe Tollemer. Photos: Henry Jacques
Style Edit

  • The Les Classiques fragrances are a contemporary update to classical perfumery, available in essences, mists and solids
  • Globetrotter Henry Cremona founded the company in 1975, and his daughter, Anne-Lise, now CEO, opened the brand’s first Hong Kong boutique in 2021, in Elements mall

The art and science of perfumery has a history as long as that of human civilisation. For more than four millennia, people have been extracting the precious essences of botanical ingredients and transforming them into scents that delight our senses, elevate our moods and mark us out as people of culture and sophistication.

Not only has perfumery played a pivotal role in the development of chemistry – it’s also been a marker of human development, a devotional aid, a symbol of luxury and a constant link with the elemental.

The Henry Jacques Les Classiques collection includes 50 fragrances.
The Henry Jacques Les Classiques collection includes 50 fragrances.
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That tradition, stretching right back to the ancient worlds of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China, has been given new impetus over the past couple of centuries by the development of the modern perfume industry, with its sophisticated scientific techniques and its dramatically expanded palette of scents extracted from nature and refined to their exquisite essences.

The town of Grasse in the south of France, sat in the hills overlooking the French Riviera, has been at the heart of this transformation, becoming the centre of the global perfume industry – and a company located in the town has been taking the modern tradition of perfumery to new heights.

Anne-Lise, the daughter of Henry Jacques’ founder Henry Cremona, is now CEO of the company.
Anne-Lise, the daughter of Henry Jacques’ founder Henry Cremona, is now CEO of the company.
The revered house of Henry Jacques is among the world’s most sought-after perfumers, with almost half a century of history since it was founded in 1975 by the globetrotting Henry Cremona, whose passion for fragrances was inspired by his many travels. Now in the hands of his daughter, CEO Anne-Lise Cremona, Henry Jacques opened its first Hong Kong boutique in 2021, within Elements, and has filled it with the fragrances that have helped to build the house’s unmatched reputation for olfactory excellence.

The key to that reputation, and part of Henry Jacques’ commitment to continuing and building on the finest traditions of perfumery, is its foundational range of fragrances known as Les Classiques. The house compiled this collection of 50 different perfumes to represent a distillation of everything that Henry Jacques represents, one which is accessible to all and the culmination of the endless experimentation and innovation in the world of scent that the brand has relentlessly pursued for the past half-century. Available in the form of essences, mists and solids, they take the building blocks of classical perfumery and give them a contemporary update, imparting a striking modern spin on timeless scents that have long inspired perfumers and their customers alike.