French designer Maria Pergay has left an indelible mark on the history of design. Her work remains a symbol of excellence. With ideas that are always ahead of their time, Maria was quite simply a visionary.

A pioneer of stainless-steel objects and furniture, Pergay said that she favours steel for its strength and availability, among other qualities. Pergay made her name in the 1960’s when she was approached by Uginox, a French stainless-steel company, to design small decorative objects.

The story of Lanvin begins in 1889, when Jeanne Lanvin had just turned twenty-two and finished her milliner’s apprenticeship.  She opened her first hat shop in the heart of Paris at 16 Rue Boissy d’Anglas. Even at that young age, her talent was truly dazzling.

Four years later, Jeanne Lanvin’s crowning point came when she obtained a commercial lease on the prestigious Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and established her eponymous fashion house. 

Her first fragrance was American: My Sin, formulated by Maria Zède and launched in the United States in 1925, was an immediate success. But it wasn’t until 1927 that the legendary fragrance Arpège was born in France.