Grasse, tanneries and perfumed gloves

Grasse is famous in the perfume world. But it didn’t start out smelling like flowers.

It started out smelling like… leather.

Our video, below, has more.

 
In the Middle Ages, this little hill town above the Côte d’Azur was famous for its tanneries and glove workshops. The hides were beautiful – but they stank.

To save their reputation, local tanners began scenting gloves with orange blossom, lavender and other botanicals from the surrounding countryside. A Grasse tanner named Jean de Galimard famously presented a pair of perfumed gloves to Queen Catherine de’ Medici – and she fell in love with them. Suddenly, “gloves from Grasse” became the scented status symbol of the French court.

As demand grew, farmers around the town planted more and more perfume flowers: jasmine, rose centifolia, violet, tuberose, orange blossom. The leather industry slowly faded, but the scent industry exploded. By the 18th century, Grasse had transformed itself from a town of tanners into the world’s perfume capital – a place where “les nez” (the noses) still train to this day.

So when you spray a floral perfume made with Grasse jasmine or rose, you’re wearing the legacy of those first, slightly desperate tanners… who just wanted their gloves to smell a little better.

** Original Clarens Parfumerie video from our Instagram