CALVIN KLEIN (brief notes, unpublished article)

 

(Here are few notes reported by Andre around 2014. This is a transcript of a phone call to Piatigorsky, who had worked with Calvin Klein perfumes years earlier. These notes were supposed to become a full-fledged article later)

"Piatigorsky appears willing and friendly on the phone -he took pity on my poor English- and has some informations to share about Calvin Klein. He says he worked for many perfume brands, (including Calvin Klein) in Paris and London, during the Nineties and 2000s. Calvin Klein perfume business started in USA in 1978, but arrived in Europe many years later, at beginning of  the Nineties. The main remembering he has about Calvin Klein scents is they were "marketing masterpieces".  

He says that, basically, the most interesting thing about Calvin Klein are not "perfumes", but the incredible story behind the perfume brand: "Calvin Klein Cosmetic Company". Piatigorsky tells me the story. 

Briefly, at the beginning Calvin Klein launched his first women's perfume, named simply "Calvin Klein", which was not successful. Disappointed by this experience, he put the perfume division ("Calvin Klein Cosmetic Company", or CKCC) up for sale, at a very low price. Then, a small Minnesota company called "Minnetonka", which had become famous a few years earlier for the creation of pump-dispenser soap, decided to buy CCKC in 1980, and, a few years later, bet everything on a soon-to-be-released perfume, called "Obsession". (continue...)

Some brief notes about dating Ralph Lauren perfumes (unpublished article)

(Foreword: these are the notes relating to Ralph Lauren perfumes that Andre left. These notes should have become a complete post, but instead they remained in a raw state. Please consider that no one of us has any idea who "Saunders" is; he is probably a friend who worked at L'Oreal. - all pictures taken on the net, and added later)

About Calvin Klein: Saunders suggests to ask Piatigorsky, OK. I asked Saunders if he remembers anything about the Ralph Lauren batchcodes or methods for dating vintage RL perfumes. Saunders says he remembers just a few things, many years have passed and he has vague memories. The situation was very messed up with RL perfumes. Saunders remembers a couple of stories that clearly explains the situation they were in.... here it is: at a certain point dealing with "Ralph Lauren Polo Sport Women", they found themselves faced with three, four different batchcodes.  These batchcodes had become so confusing and incomprehensible, thus they had to change batchcodes (this aspect needs to be explored further ).

The other story: at a certain point in the production of "Polo" and "Safari for Men", there was a stock of old stickers and boxes left. Well, they continued to use them until ran out. This means that the batchcode was up to date, ...but the labels on the bottle (and/or the box) were from 5-6 years old: i.e, stickers were outdated.

Really confusing. (to investigate further.).

Saunders says the scent he remembers best is Polo Crest, because he worked on the marketing personally. Polo Crest: launched in 1991, discontinued in 1999, and underwent a reformulation in the middle. OK.