CLEOPATRA'S BOUDOIR

When we think of Louis Vuitton, we immediately think of their luxurious travel goods and the prospect of them having their own perfumes is farthest from our minds. Many people believe that the firm never delved into the perfume industry, but I have come to prove them wrong.

It all started in 1925, when the luggage and travel specialist Louis Vuitton presented it?s first perfume presentations, these perfumes may have only been available to the most prestigious of Vuitton?s clients. I have been able to locate ?Sur La Route? as an early Vuitton perfume, but I haven't been able to track down a picture to tell you what it looked like. However, the names were not trademarked and were most likely used by other companies. Subsequently I have been unable to track down these other early perfumes.

In 1927, Vuitton launched the commercial perfume,? Heures d?Absence?, which was presented in a very fragile bottle that looked like a wine bottle and was housed in an elegant black and gold presentation box, and fitted with an outer box. Also in 1927, the perfume ?Je, Tu, Il? came onto the modern scene. The presentation consisted of three different perfumes, each in identical bottles made to fit one into another, and could be stacked inside a cylindrical box covered with gold paper. This box was then placed in a sturdy outer box, which was wrapped in paper bearing the Louis Vuitton symbols of trains and ships.

These rare perfumes were only available during 1925-1927 and are considered to be ?Holy Grails? of Louis Vuitton collecting.

For reference and pictures of these very rare presentations check out The Art of Perfume by Christie Mayer Lefkowith. Also mentioned in the book, Louis Vuitton- The Birth of Modern Luxury.

Recently whilst scouring ebay for rare and interesting vintage perfumes, I came across a questionable Louis Vuitton perfume. It looks fairly modern after checking my resources I have been able to say that it is a fantasy item . There are no Louis Vuitton perfumes out there other than the three I listed above. I believe that this fake perfume was created somewhere in China and meant to decieve the buyer. here is it's photo: