Twenty-five years ago, I started working on Editions de Parfums in an attempt to create a direct link between the best perfumers in the industry and the most demanding public,” he continued. “In doing so, I created a platform where noses could express themselves fully and be so proud of their work that they would want to sign it with their names. I could not have foreseen that what became the first publishing house for ‘noses’ would reveal these artists to the world in such a powerful way, show the public that perfume can be an art form and lay the foundations of the artisanal perfumery movement.

— Frédéric Malle announced yesterday that he will step down from Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle (the brand was acquired by Estee Lauder in 2015). Read more in EXCLUSIVE: Frédéric Malle Is Leaving His Eponymous Fragrance Brand at Women's Wear Daily via Yahoo Life.

“The minute I sold my company to Estée Lauder, I said that I wanted to do this,” says Malle. [...]

“This is where she tortured perfumers,” Malle says with a laugh, gesturing around the ornately-decorated, jewel box-like space. (The view of Central Park is so breathtaking, one has to wonder if visitors ever found it distracting during meetings.) Malle is, of course, not being literal, but referring to Lauder’s famously high standards for fragrance. For example, Beautiful, a blend of orange flower, mandarin, and rose that launched in 1985 and went on to become one of the brand’s bestsellers, was the result of “many, many months” of Lauder mixing iterations at the very same desk that sits in the corner of her office today, says Malle.

— Frédéric Malle on the upcoming Estée Lauder Legacy Collection.  Read more in Reinventing a Beloved Fragrance Is Risky Business at Allure.