FRAGONARD, A STORY, A FAMILY...

As the First World War approached, Eugène Fuchs, a born entrepreneur already captivated by the magic of perfume, decided to start his own business based on a brand-new idea: selling perfumed products directly to the tourists who were beginning to discover the charm of the Riviera. This is how Parfumerie Fragonard was born in 1926. Naming it after the famous Grasse-born painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) was Eugène Fuchs's tribute both to the city of Grasse, which had welcomed his family, and to the refinement of 18th-century art. The choice also reflected his wish to root the business in tradition.

The spirit of the house has been faithfully carried on by the three generations that followed. They opened new production and retail sites in Grasse, Èze and Paris. Jean-François Costa led the modernisation of the company. A great art lover, in the 1970s he brought together his collections of objects linked to the history of perfumery, creating the Grasse museum and two museum-shops in Paris, adding a cultural dimension to Fragonard's success.

Today his daughters, Agnès and Françoise, run the house. Keen to adapt it to new lifestyles, the sisters have built around its perfumed products a whole refined universe, inspired by Provence or bursting with exotic colour.