Highlights











































Description

This is a bit of a find - if you collect original vintage powder compacts from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, here is a genuine Coty envelope powder compact, in very nice condition indeed, with its original black felt slipcover. This is a lovely collector's item, being a featured book piece, which is where I got the 1940s dating information from. Another book however dates it from 1954 specifically, so I think this may have been in production for a few years from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s. This was often the case...

This is a neat little thing - only 8.8cms wide x 6.8cms high (just under 3 1/2" x 2 5/8") and only 9mm thick (just under 3/8") so it's quite slim, and feels lovely - very tactile !! Alas no original powder puff or sifter in this, but the inner lid features the famously long 'C' Coty signature logo on the top. It is all shiny goldtone metal, probably brass, with a machine-etched texture all over the front and back. This comes from before the lacquered brass compacts of the 1950s, and therefore you can polish this with a little brass cleaner front and back, and it will come up nice and shiny, unless you love a bit of vintage patina - some people do prefer it !!

COTY
Coty was founded by Franu00e7ois Coty in Paris in 1904. The brand's first fragrance, La Rose Jacqueminot, was launched the same year and was packaged in a bottle designed by Baccarat. L'Origan was launched in 1905; according to The Week, the perfume "started a sweeping trend throughout Paris" and was the first example of "a fine but affordable fragrance that would appeal both to the upper classes and to the less affluent, changing the way scents were sold forever".
Following its early successes, Coty was able to open its first store in 1908 in Paris' Place Vendu00f4me. Soon after, Coty began collaborating with French glass designer Renu00e9 Lalique to create custom fragrance bottles, labels, and other packaging materials, launching a new trend in mass-produced fragrance packaging

The company began its global expansion in the early 1910s, first in London and New York. Coty established U.S. headquarters at 714 Fifth Avenue in New York, and commissioned Lalique to design pressed glass panels for the building's fau00e7ade windows, which were installed in 1912. Coty remained headquartered in the building until 1941. The structure was later given landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission during the 1980s for its custom windows.

Coty began selling other beauty products including face and body powders in the 1910s, and launched one of its most successful fragrances, Chypre, in 1917. The company's products gained more attention in the United States as World War I soldiers started ing from France with gifts for loved ones. During the 1920s, Coty launched more than fifteen new fragrances, and expanded into Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland. Coty, Inc. was formed in New York in 1922, and became a publicly traded company in 1925.

1930s?1990s
Franu00e7ois Coty died in 1934, but his family maintained control of the company and served as board members until the 1960s.

Coty's Air Spun face powder was launched in 1935. The powder has been described by Real Simple as one of the "best beauty products of all time" and remains mostly unchanged.
In the 1940s, Coty became a major supporter of the growing American fashion industry, launching the Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards to recognize and promote emerging American fashion designers. Coty discontinued its participation in 1985.

Coty became a key player in the American lipstick market with the launch of Coty 24 in 1955. By the 1960s, Coty had become a leading fragrance manufacturer and marketer and the largest fragrance company in the U.S. It attracted the attention of Pfizer, which acquired the company in 1963.
Since then the company has acquired an eye-watering range of brands, the largest number of which was 41 beauty & perfumery brands in one go, from Procter & Gamble including Clairol, CoverGirl, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Max Factor, and Wella.

NICE TO KNOW:-
*Coty and its brands say they are committed to a range of social causes as well as seeking to minimize its environmental impact. The company has entered into a long-term partnership with the international advocacy group Global Citizen to tackle prejudice and discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, disability, or ethnicity, and to promote self-expression.

*Coty has also joined other beauty companies to launch the Responsible Beauty Initiative to encourage sustainability within the industry. They have also signed the United Nations Global Compact, a UN initiative to encourage businesses to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies.