François Coty’s great-granddaughter, Véronique Coty, plays a central role in preserving and re-interpreting her ancestor’s legacy. In addition to leading the Association François Coty, she founded La Cité des Parfums, a perfume house created to bring back—through a contemporary lens—the fragrances originally imagined by François Coty. Established in December 2019, the company’s name pays homage to Coty’s legendary Suresnes factory, a vast complex that once employed around 4,000 people at its peak. The first fragrance to emerge from this modern revival was Spoturno 1921, an extrait de parfum introduced in 2022, inspired by Emeraude.
According to Véronique, the new brand cannot legally use the old Coty fragrance names, as the intellectual property rights no longer belong to the family. Instead, she chose to revive Coty’s birth name, Spoturno, and pair it with the year of each fragrance’s original composition. This approach both sidesteps legal restrictions and introduces a contemporary, distinctive identity that re-anchors the perfumes to François Coty’s personal story—before he reshaped his surname to “Coty” for international appeal.
Maison Spoturno intends to grow deliberately and selectively. Véronique envisions releasing about one fragrance per year for the next several years. She has identified seven or eight original Coty creations that she considers genuine masterpieces—among them Spoturno 1904, 1905, 1906, 1909, and 1917—leading up to a 2027 launch of Spoturno 1927, timed to coincide with its centenary.
A smaller 6 ml version of Spoturno 1921, complete with a traditional glass stopper, was scheduled to debut in 2022. If reception is strong, the brand plans to introduce a 40 ml edition housed in a cylindrical spray bottle with a newly designed cap—an iteration intended to appeal more directly to younger perfume enthusiasts.
From the outset, Véronique positioned the project as an artistic venture rather than a commercial one. Her aim was to create something extraordinary—objects of desire for collectors and connoisseurs, built without compromise in materials or craftsmanship. As she put it, this meant avoiding the notion of presenting an extrait de parfum in a simple bottle tucked inside an ordinary cardboard box. The result had to feel like a treasure.
To achieve this, the team immersed itself in the aesthetic world of vintage 1920s perfumery packaging and set out to create what Véronique describes as a perfumed work of art. More than twenty specialized crafts were involved in the making of Spoturno 1921, from flower harvesters to crystal workers and artisans of decorative finishes. Designer Tristan Auer conceived the entire ensemble—the flacon, its sculptural cap, and the elaborate secondary packaging. The bespoke crystal bottles were crafted by Waltersperger, while the delicate flower embedded in each stopper, created by Adrian Colin, was torch-blown so that no two are alike.
The ornate presentation boxes required the work of multiple ateliers. The internal metal framework was produced by Emporte-Pièces des Mauges; the crackled white-gold “Kintsugi” surface was painted by hand at Atelier l’Etoile; the gold leaf detailing was applied by Ateliers Gohard; and the mirrored interior panels were made by Kopper Glass. Véronique herself learned the traditional baudruchage sealing technique from former “dames de table” and personally ties each bottle with its gold thread. The wooden cases, fashioned by Dardel, are lined in satin and wrapped in fine paper supplied by Winter. Every bottle, stopper, and box bears its own individual number.
Through this meticulous, collaborative craftsmanship, Maison Spoturno seeks not merely to revive François Coty’s perfumes, but to honor them as contemporary works of beauty—bridging the legacy of a visionary perfumer with the artistry of today’s finest makers.
List of Fragrances:
- 2022 - Spoturno 1921 Limited Edition I
- 2024 - Spoturno 1921 Le Voyageur Spoturno
- 2025 - L'Extrait de Spoturno 1921 Spoturno
- 2025 - Sportuno 1921 Limited Edition II
- 2025 Alphee Eau de Parfum
- 2025 Barbicaja Eau de Parfum
- 2025 L'Ame du Phenix Eau de Parfum
- 2025 Sportuno 1921 Eau de Parfum
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