Creed

A fragrance bottle that retails today for around $500, traces its ingredient list back to a custom blend. The house claims was made for Empress Eugenie of France in 1871. Creed was founded in London in 1760, originally as a tailoring house rather than a perfumery, later shifting to perfume under the sixth generation of the founding family. Olivier Creed and his son Erwin rebuilt the brand around the story that several of the house's current formulas were originally commissioned by European royal households during the 19th century. Aventis, launched in 2010, became the modern hero and remains among the highest-grossing niche fragrances globally. Most luxury goods use heritage as a marketing anchor, but heritage in fragrance is unusually hard to verify.