Creed 1760

Niche Perfumery since 1760

About Creed - Our History

This unique story began in 1760. A pair of scented leather gloves was delivered to King George III by a new London tailoring company. Founded by James Henry Creed in the same year as the young King’s accession, the House of Creed has created fragrances for the discerning and the discriminating for over 260 years.

Queen Victoria – George III’s granddaughter – appointed Creed as an official supplier to the Royal Household.

Then, in 1854, under the patronage of Napoleon III and his Empress, Eugénie, the stylish leader of European fashion, the House of Creed moved its headquarters to Paris. Victoria had praised Creed only too well to her fellow Sovereigns.

In newly rebuilt and glittering Second Empire Paris, Creed embellished its reputation for impeccable tailoring and for the exclusivity of its rare and limited House fragrances. The tact and discretion with which a royal, aristocratic and socially prominent clientele were handled rapidly became part of the Creed legend.

A Continuous Production, from Generation to Generation

Creed has created a legacy of unrivalled scents treasured by perfume connoisseurs and all admirers of quality, style and panache.

Creed has created a legacy of unrivalled scents treasured by perfume connoisseurs and all admirers of quality, style and panache. Over the centuries, the Creed family has produced over 200 perfumes all testifying to a unique creative spirit that has been passed, together with a keen inherited nose, from father to son through seven generations.

Today Olivier Creed, “Créateur Parfumeur” and direct descendant of James Henry Creed, continues this great tradition. Accompanied by his son Erwin, Olivier travels extensively to source, research, inspect and commission the finest materials. Rose from Bulgaria, Turkey & Morocco; Italian jasmine; Florentine iris; tuberose from India; Haitian vetiver; Bourbon vanilla; Calabrian bergamot and Parma violets. These are just a few of innumerable treasures in the Creed laboratory. They are all ingredients which have been used in haute parfumerie for many centuries, even millenia.

Still based in Paris, with a factory at Fontainebleau, Creed manufactures many of its own essences using a traditional infusion technique which enables Creed to maintain the superior quality and authenticity of its fragrances. The process is intricate and incredibly meticulous but Creed is driven by artistry and perfection.

The Art of Millesime - Creed Quality Assurance

A timeless, modern act of creation: perfume of the past, fragrance of the future. At Creed, we refer to our fragrances as Millesime quality. The word “Millesime” comes from the world of wine, translating from the French to mean a great vintage. In the wine industry, a vintage wine refers to a particular year and place from which the quality of wine was superb.

Creed pride themselves in using only the best quality ingredients in their perfume creations that are high in natural oils. One of the unique joys of a perfume which is high in natural oils is that while the quality always remains 100%, the accents of the scent will vary bewitchingly with every vintage. The perfume becomes a living entity, as animated and arbitrary as any of its wearers. Each harvest will yield flowers of a slightly varying fragrance depending on hours of sunshine and rainfall.

Creed’s Refinement

With Creed fragrances the finished Millesime perfume will always follow the same identical formula, but also breathe out an individual signature, just as a precious wine will vary subtly from year to year. Here is the magical mystery and sophistication at the heart of Creed.

The term Millésime is from the wine terminology, meaning the ‘best of the crop’. Much like fine wine, perfume making mirrors that labour-intensive process. Our Millésime perfumes are blends of the highest concentration of infused oils and the best ingredients chosen.

Our Signature Ingredients

Both Olivier and Erwin Creed devote much of their time to sourcing and curating perfume oils around the globe to create the finest Millesime fragrances. Many of these fine ingredients used by Creed have been used in the world of perfumery for thousands of years.

Cleopatra and Nefertiti were crowned with lotus, thousands of roses filled the palaces of Imperial Rome and a poignant wreath of faded blue cornflowers was found on the golden mask of Tutankhamun, 3,000 years after his burial. They have also been used in the creation of fragrance as we know it for hundreds of years.

The Origin of the Natural Creed Oils

The origin of the natural oils used in Creed fragrances plays a huge part in the quality of the fragrance produced. Over millennia certain countries, regions and cities have become celebrated for perfume oils of unique quality. This is because the terrain, climate and growing conditions of each region best suit the plant in question. Indian tuberose, vetiver from the isles of Haiti and Bourbon and Calabrian bergamot are renowned. Provencal lavender, Egyptian jasmine, Bulgarian rose and Sri Lankan sandalwood are legendary. All these ingredients are cultivated, loved and honoured by the Creeds.

The City of Grasse and The Rose’s Fragrance

Everyone who loves fragrance has heard of Grasse, the magical town which looks out over the French Mediterranean from high on a blue hill. It was once the fragrance capital of the world and is still a Holy Grail for all perfume-lovers. From Grasse comes jasmine and the fragile fragrant rose de mai which palpitates at the core of so many Creed classics.

The cultivation of rose has its own lore. Perfumers say the odour of rose cannot be overpowered: it will rise above any other fragrance. It is uniquely complex, composed of over 400 different molecules. And the May rose harvest is so brief: just a fleeting three weeks for a few hours daily, once the morning dews have dried. All this luxury from a few dry precious acres.

As the world narrows and demand intensifies, new areas of cultivation are continuously developed and expanded. For example, due to the increasing impossibility of sourcing ethical sandalwood from Mysore, Creed will in future be importing this material from Sri Lanka. In recent years too, Australia has planted forests of this legendary scented tree. The exhalation of Antipodean natural sandalwood is fascinatingly different from that of Asia: again, all due to the chemistry of the soil, the sun, the level of rainfall.

Creed's Favourite Ingredients

All great perfumers have their favourite ingredients to which they return again and again. These oils contribute to the perfumer's definitive signature. Olivier and Erwin Creed love the yield of the prized iris, the flower named after the ancient goddess of the rainbow. Iris is a fixative in perfume: it stabilises and intensifies other ingredients; it enriches the whole.

Creed also uses orris, the extract of iris pallida, the white iris of Florence and that city's heraldic emblem. Orris can take up to six years to prepare. Three years for the root or rhizome of the plant to grow to an adequate maturity; three years for the harvesting and drying process. Orris has a much deeper and more sensual odour than the delicate scent of the iris flower: it gives perfume an earthy, warm, powdery quality which is immediately recognisable and of immense presence.

The romance of the many plants, trees, herbs and flowers which are used in perfumery add greatly to the power and impact of a scent. There is magic and enchantment simply in listing, and visualizing,  the oils that are used in a fragrance and remembering where the plants are grown: picturing their shape, size, habitat and colour, not to mention their perfume. Some flowers bloomed on this planet for millions of years before Man appeared. The great Jurassic dinosaurs would have gazed upon, and maybe eaten, the first magnolias. Irises grew in the Nile before the pyramids were built. They really are a gift of nature, wondrous and remarkable.

The Creed Boutique

Returning the House of Creed to its London heritage for the first time since 1854, the Creed Boutique, 99 Mount Street, Mayfair celebrates all that makes Creed exceptional; from its rich heritage to its integrity as a true luxury fragrance house.

A Luxury Experience

A scented haven of luxury and sophistication, the Creed Boutique invites guests to explore the history of Creed which, since 1760, has been synonymous with the highest quality, hand-blended fragrances, fusing historical family techniques with innovation. Offering the ultimate sensorial experience for fragrance aficionados, the Boutique beautifully exhibits an impressive library of Creed’s adored scents, married with immaculate customer service in the most opulent of settings.

Designed by Creed’s chosen architect, Can Onaner, the Boutique is set across two floors, with its striking interiors inspired by the avant-garde creative of Adolf Loos. Creating impressions of structure, symmetry and infinite space, the myriad of lights amplifies the geometry of the exquisite taupe and white marbled floors, laid by Parisian artisan stonemasons.

Nestled amongst the Queen Anne revival style architecture of Mayfair’s Mount Street, The House of Creed has returned to its origins, perfectly at home in London’s world-class shopping destination.