The Museum at FIT's upcoming exhibition, Temptation, Joy, and Scandal: Fragrance and Fashion, 1900-1950, on view February 24 through April 10, 2004, explores an alliance between two French luxury industries - fragrance and fashion - which gave birth to products of enduring glamour and romance. Featuring hundreds of fashion house perfumes and their presentations – the bottles, boxes and other packaging that accompanied each scent – the exhibition traces the evolution of a thriving industry which continues to support couture houses today. In addition, the exhibition focuses not only on the value of these exquisite perfume bottles as artistic treasures, but also on the social, cultural, and economic relevance of the fragrance industry.
Temptation, Joy, and Scandal: Fragrance and Fashion, 1900-1950 is organized and curated by graduate students in FIT's Museum Studies: Costumes and Textiles. Highlighted in the exhibition are legendary perfumes created during the first half of the 20th century by such fashion houses as Poiret, Chanel, Lanvin, Vionnet, Patou, Lelong, Schiaparelli, and Dior, as well as by fashion accessory houses such as André Perugia, Caroline Reboux, and Louis Vuitton. In addition to establishing the importance of fragrance in sustaining the haute couture, the show provides an exciting and rare opportunity to experience many historic scents firsthand. Also on view, from The Museum at FIT’s own collection, will be a selection of fashion accessories presented to illustrate how closely fragrance presentations mirrored fashion trends of the time.
In 1911, Paul Poiret became the first couturier to enter the long-established French perfume industry, followed ten years later by Chanel, the first designer to associate her name and image with a fragrance. The connection between fragrance and fashion evolved throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and was expressed in a number of creative fragrance presentations. Vionnet and the Boué Soeurs made this link subtly by incorporating fabric into their perfume packages, while Schiaparelli used more flamboyant means in her groundbreaking Shocking bottle, shaped like a dress form. At the same time, some designers created fragrance presentations that resembled fashion accessories, while others alluded to the interior décor of couture houses. Dior's Miss Dior, for instance, introduced in 1947 – the year of the New Look – was presented standing before a miniature dressing room mirror, like a client at a couture fitting.
The exhibition will also draw from the collection of the Fragrance Foundation and the private collection of renowned fragrance expert Christie Mayer Lefkowith. The bottles on display will demonstrate the incredible diversity and creativity expressed in perfume presentations. Each one a tiny work of art, perfume bottles and their associated packaging served as a medium for many of the era’s fine artists and glassmakers. The list of contributors comprises a veritable “Who's Who” of early 20th-century art and design. Glassmakers such as René Lalique and Julien Viard provided perfumers with exquisite crystal bottles while avant-garde artists such as Sonia Delaunay, Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau, Fernand Léger, and Paul Iribe frequently designed the packaging and advertisements. The vast range of styles and shapes of perfume bottles reflects the changing art movements of the day, from Art Nouveau to Art Deco, from Cubism to Surrealism.
Not only does the exhibition allow visitors to experience the beauty of perfume presentations, but it also discusses what is inside the bottle – the scents themselves. Just like fashion, fragrance preferences changed over the years, evolving from simple floral scents in the early 1900s to later, more complex blends of natural and synthetic ingredients. The exhibition will introduce audiences to the master perfumers behind legendary fragrances, including Ernest Beaux, creator of Chanel No 5; Henri Alméras, creator of Joy; and Edmond Roudnitska, creator of Femme; as well as important women pioneers such as Mme. Zed, creator of Lanvin’s My Sin; and Blanche Arvoy, founder of two perfume companies, Jovoy and Corday.
The first half of the 20th century saw the emergence of the modern woman. Couture houses celebrated her with an array of sleek, streamlined, body-shaped bottles, and perfume names such as Femme du Jour and Femme Moderne. It is only natural that women became increasingly prominent in two industries that so strongly catered to their tastes and desires. In addition to the women who became industry leaders, the exhibition also discusses celebrities and other fashionable women who inspired many classic scents.
I would have loved to see the exhibit. 
museudelperfum.com (great site!)
