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Yves Saint Laurent

Rive Gauche

1971FloralEDTFrance

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Editorial notes

  1. 01

    A metallic aldehydic rose composed as the olfactive equivalent of Saint Laurent's prêt-à-porter revolution: modern, urban, deliberately less haute than the chypres of the previous generation.

  2. 02

    Named after Saint Laurent's ready-to-wear line, founded in 1966 to dress the women of Paris' artistic Left Bank.

  3. 03

    Canonically grouped with Chanel No. 19 and Lancôme Climat as the defining green-aldehydic florals of the early 1970s.

  4. 04

    Composed by Michel Hy and Jacques Polge in 1971 in a cylindrical metal flacon banded in blue, black and silver, one of the first major perfumes packaged in opaque metal rather than glass.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active.

A metallic aldehydic rose.

Composed by
Michel HyJacques Polge
Founder
Yves Saint Laurent
Country
France

The pyramid

Top
aldehydesbergamotpeachmandarin
Heart
roseylang-ylangirisjasminegeraniumlily-of-the-valley
Base
sandalwoodoakmossvetivermuskamber

The brief

Composed as the olfactory equivalent of Saint Laurent's ready-to-wear revolution — modern, urban, deliberately less haute than the chypres of the previous generation.

NameNamed after Saint Laurent's prêt-à-porter line Rive Gauche, founded in 1966 to dress the women of Paris' artistic Left Bank.

The flacon

Cylindrical metal flacon banded in blue, black and silver — one of the first major perfumes packaged in opaque metal rather than glass, a deliberate industrial-modern statement.

Footnotes

  • Rive Gauche is canonically grouped with Chanel No. 19 (1971) and Lancôme Climat as the defining green-aldehydic florals of the early 1970s.

The Curator's Note

The first perfume that came in a soda can, and wore it well.

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