JEAN PATOU

Frenchman Jean Patou opened two Parisian dressmaking shops just prior to WWI, founding Maison Parry in 1912. Patou left fashion when he was mobilzed in the French Army during the war, returning in 1918 with his the launch of first couture house. This stylish inventor of cardigans, tennis skirts and sexy knit bathing suits introduced the first tanning lotion, Huile de Chaldée, during the Depression. In 1925, Jean Patou introduced his first fragrances: Amour-Amour for brunettes, Que Sais-je for blondes and Adieu Sagesse for redheads. His extravagant most-famous Joy fragrance, dubbed the “world’s most expensive perfume” by Hollywood’s Elsa Maxwell, retains its costly ingredients—rumored to be composed of 10,600 flowers and 28 dozen roses—and contemporary fans like Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Roberts.