Fragrance house

Guy Laroche

Guy Laroche founded his eponymous couture house in Paris in 1957. Its early design language favored comfortable, understated elegance, structured lines, and freedom of movement over the restrictive luxury associated with the postwar New Look. In 1961, the house moved to 29 avenue Montaigne, opened a boutique, and introduced its first ready-to-wear collection; five years later, it added menswear with Guy Laroche Monsieur. That same year, it launched Fidji, its first documented signature women’s fragrance. Marcel Bich became owner of the fashion house in 1970, and Guy Laroche received the French Légion d’honneur in 1987. After Laroche died in 1989, creative direction passed through designers including Michel Klein, Alber Elbaz, and Richard René. BIC sold Guy Laroche to Rech International in 2001; in 2004, YGM Studio, a subsidiary of YGM Trading, acquired Société Guy Laroche, which owned the Guy Laroche trademarks and licensed products worldwide. Today, YGM presents the label across fashion and perfume. Its fragrance history is associated especially with Fidji and the Drakkar family, including Drakkar Noir, launched in 1982 and identified by the house as an iconic men’s fragrance.