The Big Book of Perfume - For an olfactory culture

All About Perfume is an accessible reference guide which invites readers to discover olfactory culture. A work of reference in France, the book is now available in English. The global perfume industry is worth 45 billion dollars, and each year around 2,000 new fragrances are launched worldwide. However, aside from often superficial and reductive communications, the perfume industry has long enjoyed keeping secrets and has cultivated a talent for maintaining mystery. What are perfumes composed of? Who are the perfumers behind these fragrances and what is their everyday work like? What happens between the conception of an idea in the mind of a director, project manager or fashion designer and the arrival of a new bottle on the shelves? What differences are there between a popular brand distributed on a large scale and a smaller company whose products are only available in a handful of stores? Once a perfume is launched, how does it survive the test of time? For the first time, a book – created by the Nez collective – answers the questions you have never dared to ask. Discover the history of perfumery across the centuries, follow the perfume production chain from conception to manufacturing and take a behind-the-scenes look at a complex and constantly evolving industry. Fully illustrated, All About Perfume is an ambitious and demanding work, but accessible to all, from aficionados to those who are simply curious. The voluntarily transparent and informative tone combats clichés and preconceived ideas and goes against writing that is often intimidating or unclear. Translated from French by Philippa Bowe and Annie Tate-Harte