Albert Nipon by Albert Nipon c1983

The signature fragrance Albert Nipon by designer Albert Nipon was launched in 1983, although trademark records indicate that the name was in use since 1982 for perfume. The first perfume Albert Nipon created to be as pretty and appealing as his fashions, a scent that is utterly feminine fashionable and yet soft and delicate and teasingly sensual.

Albert Nipon Inc. joined forces with Orlane USA (then owned by Max Factor) to produce and market a new woman's fragrance. But first the companies commissions studies to identify and analyze the woman who bought Nipon's clothing. 

Albert Nipon's wife Pearl admitted to wearing Guerlain's Shalimar perfume for years and was inspired in part to create the Nipon signature fragrance. After two years of research and 150 samples later, she hit upon the winner.  A separate year of research was spent determining who, besides Pearl, would wear the scent. 

Pearl said, "The Nipon woman who wants to look ladylike and fashionable, but not trendy, is as sensuous as the next woman - and for all we know, she may be wearing a red satin teddy under her Nipon dress." The fragrance was created for that woman’s style, and the bottles designed after a Nipon tradition: the bow. Mr. Fick, a perfumer, created the beautiful perfume. 

There was no targeted age group, it was simply "feminine and pretty" and wanted it to align with the image created by Nipon's fashions. "It's a natural extension to fashion," Pearl said. "You should not only look pretty, but smell pretty."

The ounce of parfum retailed for $110 and was priced to compete with fragrances like Oscar de la Renta and Chloe by Karl Lagerfeld. 

In 1983, Albert and Pearl Nipon presented the very first bottle of their fragrance to First Lady Nancy Reagan, who had given attentions to their clothing designs, especially when she wore an off the rack Albert Nipon dress to a major GOP function years ago.

The fragrance was formally launched at the Grand Court at the John Wanamaker Center City store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1983. Eight hundred men and women crowded into the department store to see a showing of Nipon's summer fashions before Albert and wife Pearl handed out free samples of the fragrance and autographed photos of themselves. The fashion show prominently featured Nipon's signature bows as did the bottles of the perfume.  

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? It is classified as a fresh mossy aldehydic chypre fragrance for women. I starts off with a fresh top note, followed by a spicy floral heart, layered over a balsamic, ambery base.

• Top notes: aldehydes, bergamot, lemon, fruity note, orange, coriander
• Middle notes: frangipani, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, lavender, galbanum, orange blossom, cinnamon, carnation, geranium, pepper, orris, ylang ylang
• Base notes: sage, patchouli, cloves, incense, vetiver, labdanum, opoponax, myrrh, tolu balsam, oakmoss, pepper, ambergris, vanilla, cedar, benzoin, leather, musk

Its intensely feminine floral top note combines rose, jasmine, carnation and orange blossom. As it dries down its warm, sensual heart is revealed - a blend of full-bodied patchouli, oakmoss and pepper balanced by a deep, ambery base, making the fragrance exceptionally long lasting and diffusive.

The Albert Nipon Fragrance was available in the following forms:

• 1/4 oz Parfum (retailed for $40 in 1984)
• 1/2 oz Parfum (retailed for $65 in 1984)
• 1 oz Parfum (retailed for $120 in 1984)
• 1/4 oz Purse Perfume Natural Spray 
• 1/8 oz Parfum mini 
• 1.7 oz Eau de Toilette Spray 
• 0.35 oz Soft Perfume Rollerball
• 1/2 oz Soft Perfume 
• 1/2 oz Eau de Parfum Natural Spray 
• 1/3 oz Eau de Toilette Splash mini
• 1 oz Eau de Toilette 
• 1.7 oz Eau de Toilette Natural Spray 
• 3.2 oz  Eau de Toilette Natural Spray 
• 2 oz Eau de Toilette Splash 
• 6 oz Bath & Shower Gel
• 2 oz Fragranced Body Powder
• 5 oz Bath Powder
• 9 oz Perfumed Body Cream
• 4 oz Body Milk
• 8 oz Fragranced Body Lotion 
• 1/2 oz Dry Oil Spray 
• 4 oz Foaming Bath Oil 
• 2 oz Perfumed Body Treatment 
• Perfumed Candles

Bottle:

To introduce America to the perfume, Albert and his wife Pearl made appearances at major department stores around the country. The stores were decorated with flowers that had to be blue, white and lavender to match the perfume's packaging.

The perfume was contained in an oval shaped crystal flacon, topped with the signature Nipon bow, molded in frosted glass. Presented in a red lined, embossed grey and white box. The design motif was used on the eau de toilette, parfum, and another type of fragrance which Nipon dubbed a "soft perfume," a brand-new fragrance category that is somewhere between eau de toilette and parfum, basically an eau de parfum in today's terminology.

The back of the boxes and labels on the bottles should read "Albert Nipon Fragrances, Inc." This company name was used from 1984-1991.

Fate of the Fragrance:

I believe that the original perfume was discontinued around 1988 when the company was sold to Leslie Fay. It was reintroduced later and might have been reformulated to exclude the oakmoss, and can still be found at discounters and ebay. The perfume was finally discontinued in 2008.

The older bottles have very dark brownish red juice (that can stain clothing) due to the natural aging process of the fragrance's ingredients and these bottles have the bow motif, the newer bottles have lighter, ambery yellow colored juice and no bow motif.

Original Formula:

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