Walking arm in arm: the history of perfumed gloves

by: Juliett Ptoyan

As with many good things, the tradition of glove perfuming comes from Italy. At the end of the XVth century the descendant of an old Roman family, Muzio Frangipani, created a powder consisting of musk, civet, the milled root of iris and some other ingredients, which, relying on legend, was used by Catherine de' Medici to mask certain smells in the Palace of Fontainebleau.

Some sources claim that the creator of this "pulvilio" was the personal perfumer (also known as court poisoner) of the Queen-mother, Rene le Florentin, but the version with Frangipani as the one that started it seems more logical.

Catherine de' Medici and her son, Charles IX of France

Muzio Frangipani served at Charles IX's court, Catherine de Medici's son, and it would be surprising to assume that two perfumers of one court weren't familiar with each other - which makes it very plausible that Rene le Florentin's glory stretched far beyond his fragrant experiments while in fact not all of them can be attributed to his persona.

The powder case confirms it: Frangipani can be considered as some kind of "ghost writer" for the art of perfumery - but still, history shows not only his, but also the name of his grandson Mercurio, who was the first one to improve lasting power of fragrance by  combining aromatic substances with alcohol and who created the "Amour's sighs" and "Frangipan" eaux, which were mentioned, for example, by Dmitry Merezhkovsky (in the novel "Antichrist. Piotr and Alexey") and became the first perfumes with which by that time marshal Frangipani aromatized his gloves.

Soon this habit became all-pervasive in the court circles of Louis XIII (the term  "Frangipani’s glove" was even used), and specially trained people (who 30 years later, in 1656, would frame the guild of glove perfumers) were engaged in the aromatization of these accessories.

Under Louis XIV, Le Roi Soleil, the guild of glovers was granted the patent "Les Statuts des Maitres Gantiers Parfumeurs", and the industry expanded considerably in France and abroad. Gloves were aromatized in two ways: by soaking them with an aromatic solution, or rubbing them with a fragrant paste or wax, both inside and out.

Eventually the producer of accessories could be distinguished by the intensity of the fragrance: aroma's from France were described as weak or gentle (with a base of violet,  iris or orange blossom). The first house to start aromatizing gloves industrially was Galimard, founded by Jean de Galimard in 1747 in Grasse, France.

It's safe to say that the development of the glove business wasn't a very smooth one: in 1685 Louis XIV canceled the Edict of Pacification (the law which in 1598 granted the right of religion to Protestants - Huguenots) and all over the country persecutions began, which affected Grenoble and Grasse, where the main factories and ateliers were concentrated. Many handicraftsmen were compelled to leave the cities, but Grenoble stood firm in a remarkable manner - and in the XVIII century it was the production of leather accessories that allowed inhabitants to feel more or less secure (in 1787 there were already 64 companies producing aromatized gloves in Grenoble).

Until halfway through the XIX century perfumed gloves were considered luxury goods; because of the complex production process only very wealthy people could afford them. In 1834 glove master Xavier Jouven invented a cutting torch and a press for cutting which made it much simpler to produce accessories - and, respectively, producers had an opportunity to reach a wider range of buyers. At the same time, their distribution area expanded: for example, the gloves of madam Auguste Perrin (Vve Perrin fils et Cie, later - Le Gant Perrin) were now sold in many countries of Europe and since 1869 also in America. The business of aromatized gloves was not only in hands of the leather masters: from the XVIII-XIX centuries on it was also perfumery houses that were engaged in this market.  The most striking example in this group is L.T. Piver, supplier of the French court at Louis XVI en also the chosen house of Sara Bernhardt and Napoleon's family.  One more important event that relates to perfume houses is the release in 1872 of Guerlain gloves, which obviously is connected to the creation of the perfume Cuir de Russie.

Jumping back to our days,  it is fitting to mention the House of Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier by Jean-François Laport, which was established in 1988 and inspired by the history of glove masters and the Golden Age of Perfume in general, and which offers  - besides fine fragrances -  the fragrant gloves (which, however, are made not by the brand, but by French ateliers).

One more attempt of revival of this tradition was made by Guerlain: last year the French House, together with the Agnelle studio (which was earlier working with Celine and other luxury brands), released two pairs of aromatized gloves: Le Gant La Petite Robe Noire (a truncated model impregnated with a mix that is reminiscent of the perfume by the same name) and Le Gant du Parfumeur (an extended model that smells similar to Mitsouko), which were available in the Guerlain boutique on the Champs-Élysées.

The same was done by L’Artisan Parfumeur in 2012 in collaboration with Causse: they released a limited edition pair of gloves, aromatized with Mûre et Musc Extreme. It is  necessary to note - these modern day perfumed gloves are accessories, whose smell only reminds us of a certain original perfume aroma: the formula after all has to be different from perfume, in the same way as products in bath lines within a perfume line are never exactly the same.

The theme of aromatized gloves and accessories is experiencing a resurgence these days (think of  the leather bracelets of Francis Kurkdjian, the new jewellery collection by Kilian Hennessy, old releases of solid fragrances in pendants, etc.). In my opinion, it is connected with the aspiration of clients to prolong the persistence of fragrance, but also with the desire of the niche brands, first of all, to support or lift their status. Be different or be dead, you know.

What do you think about scented gloves? Do you perfume them - and if you do - which of your fragrances do you use?