Creed and I go way back, possibly close to forty years. By which I mean I have been irritated by their lies and obfuscations since I first visited their shop in the Rue Pierre 1er de Serbie. The firm pretends to be far older than they are, dating back to 1760. It is not clear exactly when the current Creed started doing fragrance, but most people in the industry who are old enough to know recall them only from the early 1970s.
I have in my files a photocopy of a cease-and-desist letter written by the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, demanding Creed stop claiming that they supplied him with fragrance. Note that Creed’s crest, with three ostrich feathers in a crown1, is cheekily like the prince’s, but without the “Ich Dien” motto. A full account of Creed’s shenanigans is found in an extraordinary book by Gabe Oppenheim, which I warmly recommend to all fragheads. The latest iteration of Creed’s economy with the truth is on their website, where Olivier Creed claims to have created Aventus, whereas it is common knowledge it was composed by Jean-Christophe Hérault at IFF.
Be that as it may, and given the extraordinarily high level of outright fantasies and fabrications in the industry in general, I have long felt that I was excessively puritanical in refusing even to smell their stuff. I now make amends.
For paid subscribers, reviews of Oud Zarian, Delphinus, Absolu Aventus, Aventus for Her, Queen of Silk, Eladaria, Carmina and Royal Princess Oud.
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