Balenciaga’s triumphant return to fragrance looks back to the house’s roots – and a forgotten 1947 bottle

Fifteen years ago, Balenciaga archivists began searching for a first-edition bottle of ‘Le Dix’, the maison’s debut fragrance, which arrived at the house in 1947, a decade after Cristóbal Balenciaga moved to Paris’ 10 Avenue George V. Created by master nose Francis Fabron, the perfume took its name from this 8th arrondissement address, and was contained in a widely recognisable ridged flacon (a design used commercially up until the 2000s). Or, so it was thought. During the laborious hunt for this rare piece of Balenciaga history, sketches by its founder were discovered depicting another design entirely, eventually confirmed to be the true first edition of ‘Le Dix’. A while later, the only 1947-dated ‘Le Dix’ bottle in existence was located, from a private collector based in America.

Here, the foundations of Balenciaga’s ambitious new fragrance line are laid. Launching today (10 September 2025), ten perfumes recount the story of the maison’s history through olfaction, each held in a near-exact copy of this singular bottle, characterised by a ‘globular’ stopper, hand-tied with a ribbon, and rectangular-walled glass base. Even the cracked patina of its lacquered label and original embossed signature are almost faithfully replicated through high-precision 3D scanning. (Holding a mirror to this process, Balenciaga tapped artist Katerina Jebb, noted for her use of scanners in her work, to create the collection’s campaign).

The juice inside the 1947 bottle had darkened and partially evaporated. But still, it captured the chypre, or animalic, notes of the perfume as it was then. These notes have been analysed and reconstructed for a 2025 iteration of ‘Le Dix’. A celebration of the iris, this contemporary reimagining recalls a powdery lipstick twisted from its bullet, melded with facets of leather. The nine other fragrances joining ‘Le Dix’ traverse darkness and light, from ‘No Comment’ to ‘Incense Perfumum’. The former – a ‘mysterious’ fougère built around Spanish cypress – draws inspiration from Cristóbal Balenciaga’s notoriously private character; the latter, a smoky tribute to the couturier’s obsession with the colour black, is like stepping inside a Velázquez painting, with ritualistic incense oils, cedarwood and Spanish labdanum resin.

Further nods to Balenciaga codes are found in ‘Cristóbal’, a distinctly original take on an oud. ‘Cristóbal’ is overpowering but cocooning, much like the garments created by its namesake. ‘To Be Confirmed’, pays tribute to Balenciaga’s Tulip silhouette via an abstract blend of jasmine, ylang-ylang, tea leaves, and bergamot, while ‘Muscara’, which reads a little like a smokier version of ‘Le Dix’, is inspired by the dramatic, kohl-rimmed eyes of haute couture models walking Maison Balenciaga in the 1960s. ‘100%’ brings the story of the house (almost) up to the present moment; a sample of this multifaceted rose perfume formed the show invite for Demna’s final A/W 2025 collection in March.

Kering Beauté, the three-year-old fragrance and cosmetics arm within Balenciaga’s parent company Kering, is behind this ambitious and meaningful design project. ‘Previously, many Kering fragrance brands operated under external licences,’ a Kering Beauté spokesperson explained during a preview of the perfume collection earlier this year. ‘While respectful of past efforts, we at Kering Beauté wanted a complete overhaul, to wipe the slate clean and rebuild its often overlooked perfume legacy from scratch, truly aligning it with the ethos of Balenciaga fashion, as it once was in the 1950s and 1960s.’

Balenciaga opens a new chapter written by Pierpaolo Piccioli next month, with the Italian designer showing his first collection for S/S 2026 during Paris Fashion Week. What Picciolo and Kering Beauté have planned is, of course, yet to be seen. But reigniting the historically symbiotic relationship between fashion and beauty for today is an exciting place to start.

The Balenciaga collection of fragrances are available from 10 September 2025 at select stores worldwide, including the Balenciaga perfume store located at 10 avenue George V, Paris 75008, and on balenciaga.com.