Floris

In 1730, the couple Juan Famenias and Elizabeth Floris opened in London, at a noble address in the St. James district, a store of perfumes, combs and cosmetics for the perfect shave of the gentleman. This old Floris store can still be visited today and breathe almost 300 years of history in the beautiful antique-luxury store along with the fragrances on sale.Prominent clientele and the appointment as royal court supplier of combs helped the family business to soon become a real force in terms of fragrance and beauty of the London aristocracy and upper middle class. At a time when personal perfume was being cultivated and developed with ever new discoveries, Floris released fragrances with its own recipes (many of which still exist today) that were milestones in perfume fashion at the time. Citrus notes were the ultimate hit at the time and Floris invested a lot of time and money in refining and diversifying the citrus fragrance palette. Even today, a citrus base line is a fundamental building block in many Floris perfumes.When in the last third of the 19th century the heiress Mary Anne Floris and her husband James R. D. Bodenham expanded the family tree with the proud number of 16 children, the family line and the continuing Floris tradition was secured and the family, which is still active today, was henceforth called Bodenham.Also in the 20th century, many well-known personalities belonged to the Floris family. In the 20th century, many famous personalities belonged to the Floris clientele and the impressive list of names with Mary Shelley or Florence Nightingale was supplemented with such celebrity greats as Winston Churchill and Marilyn Monroe.To the now large number of stores and manufacturers, a small factory in Devon was added in 1989 and Floris thus had a viable production facility to answer the great demand from Europe and overseas. The traditional family business had become a small perfume group.In 2010, Floris celebrated 280 years of existence and released the fragrance 280 in a limited edition of 280 pieces; a floriental iris fragrance with citrus and spicy accents that formulates the long and rich history of the house in fragrance language.The house founded by Elizabeth and Juan Famenias Floris is now run by the ninth generation Floris/Bodenham.