Bleu de Chine by Isabey c1924

Launched in 1924, Bleu de Chine by Isabey emerged during a time of intense fascination with the exotic and the mysterious—particularly with the Orient, as it was romantically imagined by the West. The name Bleu de Chine is French, pronounced roughly as “bluh duh sheen,” and it translates to “China Blue.” This phrase evokes not just a color, but an entire visual and emotional world: the pale cobalt glaze of antique Chinese porcelain, the shimmering silks of imperial robes, and the misty blue hues of lotus-filled rivers at dawn. Isabey’s choice of name was deeply in line with the era’s aesthetic tendencies—specifically, a fascination with East Asian art, design, and symbolism that was reaching a fever pitch in the wake of colonial expositions and the rise of chinoiserie in fashion and interiors.

The 1920s—particularly in Paris—were a time of radical cultural transformation. The First World War had ended just a few years earlier, and society was embracing modernity with open arms. Known as Les Années Folles (“The Crazy Years”), this period saw a flourishing of the arts, a revolution in women’s fashion, and the birth of modern perfumery. Women were casting off corsets, cutting their hair into bobs, and asserting new independence through work, leisure, and self-presentation. In fragrance, this translated into bold new scents that defied the dainty florals of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Oriental fragrances—those that combined floral notes with exotic resins, spices, and sensual warmth—became the epitome of modern sophistication.

Bleu de Chine, classified as a floral oriental fragrance, perfectly captured that moment. It was said to be “rich with the essence of the lotus flower fragrance as it blooms in waxen beauty in Oriental rivers, its blossoms quivering in the dawn.” The lotus, sacred in Chinese and other Eastern cultures, symbolized purity, enlightenment, and rebirth. But in perfumery, the lotus was more of a fantasy than a botanical reality. There is no true essential oil or absolute derived from the sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) that could be used in commercial fragrance. Instead, perfumers of the era crafted “lotus” accords through a blend of naturals and synthetics to evoke its imagined scent.