Courrèges

Courrèges is a French fashion house founded in Paris in 1961 by André Courrèges, his wife Coqueline Courrèges (née Jacqueline Barrière) and Marcel Leyrat [4]. Known first for its space-age couture, the house also runs a fragrance line that is its main point of contact with the beauty market. Since 2018 the company has been owned by Groupe Artémis, the Pinault family holding group.

The brand remains active. Its perfumery was relaunched in the early 2020s under artistic director Nicolas Di Felice, and new scents continue to appear, including the Hyper Iris fragrance released in 2024.

André and Coqueline Courrèges opened the fashion house in 1961, a date the company itself marks as the start of its story [2]. André Courrèges trained as an engineer before turning to couture, and the label became closely associated with the futuristic, space-age look of the 1960s. According to the company, its early style was first championed by American press and buyers, who were the first to defend it.

The house expanded internationally over the following decade, opening a United States boutique in Beverly Hills in 1973 and a New York location in 1974.

Courrèges entered perfumery a decade after its founding. Its first fragrance, Empreinte, was created as a tribute to the Apollo moon landing. Most sources, including Olfastory, Wikipedia and the trade press, date Empreinte to 1971 [5]; a Fragrantica database listing instead gives 1970 as the earliest Courrèges perfume [7]. Eau de Courrèges followed in 1977, a fresh, sporty scent positioned for both women and men, and Courrèges in Blue arrived in 1983.

The fashion house declined through the 1990s, and André Courrèges presented his final show in 2002. A revival began in 2011, when two advertising professionals, Jacques Bungert and Frédéric Torloting, took over and set out to renew the brand; the three flagship fragrances were re-released in 2012 [5]. La Fille de l'Air, a new original fragrance, launched in 2015.

A broader fragrance reset came after Nicolas Di Felice was appointed artistic director in 2020. The perfumery was refreshed in 2021 to combine a contemporary spirit with the traditions of couture perfume, and Empreinte was reintroduced the same year [4]. The Hyper line of chrome-bottled scents followed, with Hyper Iris added as a fourth fragrance in 2024 [6].

Courrèges has passed through several owners. L'Oréal, an earlier stakeholder, sold its stake to the Japanese company Itokin; Wikipedia dates this to 1982, while a Fragrantica account describes a 1979 licensing arrangement that let Itokin take a majority share [4][7]. The brand was sold in 2011 to Jacques Bungert and Frédéric Torloting [4]. Groupe Artémis, controlled by the Pinault family, acquired a stake in 2015 and took full ownership in 2018 [4].

The fragrance line draws directly on the founder's space-age aesthetic and the heritage of the couture house. Fragrantica describes the 2021 relaunch under Di Felice as uniting a contemporary spirit with couture-perfume tradition. The Hyper range is presented by the brand as a trio of bold scents in modern chrome bottles, later extended to four; the name references the ancient Greek "hypér", which the company links to intensity and excess. Positioned at the luxury end of the market, the Hyper fragrances retailed at $308 in 2024 [6].

The current catalogue spans two collections. The Colorama range includes C, Le Messager, L'Eau Pâle, Slogan, Seconde Peau, La Fille de l'Air, L'Empreinte and L'Eau de Liesse, alongside candles and gift sets. The Hyper Courrèges collection comprises Hyper Iris, Hyper Musc, Hyper Cuir and Hyper Oud. Across the line the house has worked with perfumers including Edouard Fléchier, Antoine Lie, Julie Massé and Fabrice Pellegrin.

The company, registered as Groupe Courrèges, publishes an annual Gender Equality Index as required by French labour law. For 2024 it reported an overall score of 83 out of 100, with stated goals of 84 for 2026 and 85 for 2027 [3].

Courrèges is active and trading. It is owned by Groupe Artémis and operates boutiques in France, the United States and South Korea, plus department-store locations in Paris. Its most recent fragrance launch was Hyper Iris in October 2024, and a new artistic director, Drew Henry, was appointed in March 2026 [4].