Fragrance house

Le Galion

Le Galion was founded in 1930 by Prince Murat, a descendant of Joachim Murat, former king of Naples. In 1935, Murat transferred the company to perfumer Paul Vacher, who became the central creative figure in the house’s early history. Vacher created Sortilège in 1936, a fragrance that Le Galion’s official history says achieved immediate success, and created Miss Dior for Christian Dior in 1946; Le Galion also supplied Dior with Miss Dior concentrate and selected raw materials for more than 30 years. After Vacher left in 1975, his daughter Dominique De Urresti became the house’s perfumer and created Mégara in 1978 as a tribute to him. Sold to an American group in 1980, Le Galion then rapidly declined. Nicolas Chabot took over the house in 2014. Its revived identity combines archival reissues, including the 1937 version of Sortilège, with newer creations such as Ferveur from 2022. The house is especially associated with floral and floral-aldehydic fragrances, alongside citrus compositions such as Whip and L’Eau Noble. In 2022, Pierre Dinand created a new bottle design revisiting his earlier work for Le Galion, and in 2023 Ava Gardner returned as a muse associated with Sortilège.