Creed Fragrances is an Anglo-French multi-national niche

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

house, based in Paris. It is owned by the luxury group

Kering Kering S.A. () is a French multinational holding company specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. It owns the brands Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Creed, Maui Jim, and Alexander McQueen. The timber-tradin ...

and managed by its beauty division Kering Beauté. The company was supposedly originally founded as a tailoring house in

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in 1760 by James Henry Creed. It has boutiques in Paris,

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(Yorkdale Mall) and

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in addition to stands in high end retailers across the world. The current generation of creative directors consists of Olivier Creed and his son Erwin Creed.

Early history

James Henry Creed supposedly founded the House of Creed in London in 1760 as a tailoring establishment, however, the earliest evidence of Creed's existence hark from the late 1960s or early 1970s. It claims to have risen to fame in the mid 19th century under Henry Creed as tailors and habit makers for the fashionable dandy Count d'Orsay,

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, and

Empress Eugénie The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

, who issued the firm of Creed & Cumberland a Royal Warrant for tailoring articles. Olivier Creed's first eponymously named fragrance was a traditional eau de cologne with matching aftershave. Its release date is unknown, although bottles are still in circulation. Creed also has other high-profile creations in its catalog such as Angelique Encens, which was said to have been originally created in 1933 for the Bishop of Paris. The history of the Creed brand prior to 1970 comes from Creed itself. No historical evidence (documents, letters, warrants, receipts, vintage bottles or packaging, business licenses, etc.) of the company’s existence before 1970 exists. In 2009, Creed opened its first stand-alone US store on

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

. In February 2020, the private equity group

BlackRock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

announced that it would become the majority shareholder of Creed. Sarah Rotheram was named CEO in November 2020. In June 2023, Creed was acquired by

for €3.5 billion.

Popular culture

Creed has stated that it has created perfumes exclusively for celebrities and well-known political figures. Creed claims that Tabarome "was commissioned by a legendary British statesman who loved fine brandy and highest quality cigars" but this is without historical confirmation. Also, Creed's Vetiver is marketed to have been created for "one of America's leading families, a political dynasty now known worldwide for its energy, vigor, and impeccable style". This is also without historical confirmation.

Mainstream success

Creed's mainstream breakthrough success came in the mid-1980s with the fresh fougère fragrance Green Irish Tweed (1985). After Cary Grant died in 1986, Creed’s advertising made claims that Grant wore it. Around this time their advertising began to feature many long-dead celebrities, attempting to lend pedigree to the fledgling brand. The first trademark for Creed perfume was registered in 1979 in France. Creed's marketing masterpiece, the fragrance Aventus (2010) has seen good commercial success. Erwin Creed stated that the popularity of Aventus enabled Creed to open its New York boutique location.

Authorship

Gabe Oppenheim's book, The Ghost Perfumer, interviews numerous perfumers and disputes Creed's claim that all of the fragrances are made in-house by members of the Creed family. Pierre Bourdon claims to be the perfumer behind Green Irish Tweed (an early iteration of Davidoff's Cool Water, also made by Bourdon), Original Santal, Silver Mountain Water, Erolfa, Millesime Imperial among others.

Governance

CEOs

* 2020-2024: Sarah Rotheram

Publicly released fragrances

Creed claims to make fragrances exclusively for their clients and that some of those fragrances are later released to the public. These are some of the Creed fragrances sold to the general public. * Wind Flowers * Amalfi Flowers * Aventus * Absolu Aventus (2023 & 2024 editions) * Cuir de Russie * Herbe Marine * Imperatrice Eugenie * Olivier Creed Eau de Cologne/Toilette (not fully confirmed) * Viking * Ylang Jonquille * Zeste Mandarine

References

{{Commons category-inline French brands Perfume houses History of cosmetics 1760 establishments in England 2023 mergers and acquisitions Kering brands