Serge Lutens

About Serge Lutens

Serge Lutens is a Paris fragrance house formally launched in 2000 from the long creative partnership between French artist Serge Lutens and Shiseido. Their collaboration began in 1980 and shaped not only fragrance, but also advertising imagery and retail space.

History

In 1980, as Shiseido expanded its European business, the company commissioned Lutens to develop its global image and visual identity; Shiseido later credited the collaboration with helping its entry into European markets and accelerating its international growth. In 1992, Shiseido opened Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido in Paris and began selling cloche-bottled fragrances created by Lutens. Square bottles followed in 1999, and in 2000, with the support of the Shiseido group, he established Parfums Beauté Serge Lutens, later renamed Serge Lutens.

Philosophy & Signature Style

Shiseido acquired the Serge Lutens trademark in 2015 so it could invest further in the house, including directly managed boutiques in major cities. The transaction is best understood in the context of a brand the two parties had built together since 1980, rather than the arrival of an unrelated third-party label: it consolidated ownership after decades of collaboration. At the time, Shiseido said Lutens would continue directing the spirit and style of the house, and in 2016 described its founder as still fully involved.

Iconic Fragrances

Féminité du bois, introduced in 1992, made cedar the center of a composition that challenged familiar gender divisions in perfumery. Ambre sultan and Chergui further show the house’s characteristic way of translating memory and place into dense textures of resins, spices, woods, and dry sweetness.