Classics
The hundred-year-old perfumes still being copied
From 1889 to now: the classics that someone is still making a cheaper bottle of.
The oldest fragrance in our catalogue that still has a twin is Guerlain Jicky, from 1889. Someone is still making a cheaper bottle to smell like it, 137 years later. Good taste, it turns out, does not expire.
33
pre-1990 originals still copied
7
from before 1950
45
twins of Green Irish Tweed (1985)
The timeline
Every original from before 1990 with at least one twin today. Hover a dot.
Each dot is a fragrance; the bigger it is, the more twins it has.
Still worn, still wanted
1889 · Guerlain
Jicky
1 twin · best value $89/100ml
1919 · Guerlain
Mitsouko
1 twin · best value $83/100ml
1921 · Chanel
N°5 Parfum
2 twins
1921 · Chanel
N°5
2 twins · best value $64/100ml
1925 · Chanel
Gardénia
2 twins
1925 · Guerlain
Shalimar
8 twins · best value $36/100ml
1933 · Guerlain
Vol de Nuit
2 twins
1956 · Creed
Fleurissimo
4 twins · best value $33/100ml
1956 · Dior
Diorissimo
4 twins · best value $89/100ml
1957 · Givenchy
L'Interdit
11 twins · best value $33/100ml
1961 · Guerlain
Vetiver
9 twins · best value $32/100ml
1966 · Dior
Eau Sauvage
9 twins · best value $36/100ml
1971 · Yves Saint Laurent
Rive Gauche
4 twins · best value $83/100ml
1971 · Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent Pour Homme
1 twin · best value $33/100ml
Why the old ones survive
A fragrance that is still sold, still worn and still copied after fifty or a hundred years has passed the hardest test there is. Fashions in smell change completely every couple of decades — and these outlasted all of them. They are also, often, the templates the newer launches are quietly built on. A twin of a classic is not just a cheaper bottle; it is a way to own a piece of the history of perfume.
