The new L’Heure Bleue launches globally on Friday, following its earlier release in China this month. The two fragrances are going to coexist. “We’re going to cherish [the first L’Heure Bleue] like a treasure. The only difference is that it will be called L’Heure Bleue 1912, which is Jacques Guerlain’s creation, and the new L’Heure Bleue, which is Delphine Jelk’s creation,” Saint-Genis explains. “Rather than inventing perfumes from scratch, we find it interesting to look back at our heritage. I think we’re living in an era where there’s a certain need to hold on to something solid.”
L’Heure Bleue marks Guerlain’s first major women’s fragrance launch in nearly a decade.
Photo: Courtesy of Guerlain
The new L’Heure Bleue is priced at €169 for 100ml, €122 for 50ml, and €86 for 30ml. “We wanted — and needed — a global flagship [fragrance] that would be ‘accessible’. That’s why it comes in 30ml at less than €100,” Saint-Genis says. (L’Heure Bleue 1912 eau de parfum is priced at €147 for 75ml.)
She continues: “Fragrance can go very far at Guerlain when it comes to sophistication. That said, our vision — and my vision, in particular — is that Guerlain is not a house of elitist exclusivity. What we wanted to do was really offer the exceptional quality of Guerlain at those prices.”
The venerable French perfume house was founded by Jacques’s grandfather, Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain, in 1828. In 1994, the Guerlain family sold a majority stake to LVMH. LVMH doesn’t break out sales for each house in its perfumes and cosmetics division, which generated €8.2 billion in 2025, but Guerlain contributes between €1.2 billion and €1.5 billion, per Bernstein estimates, while HSBC estimates that Parfums Christian Dior accounts for approximately €3.9 billion. The remainder is likely generated by the division’s other brands, including Maison Francis Kurkdjian, Acqua di Parma, Parfums Givenchy, Kenzo Parfums, Loewe Perfumes, Make Up For Ever, and Benefit. Sales at the division declined 1% in the second quarter of 2026, which LVMH CFO Cécile Cabanis attributed to a focus on selective distribution and travel retail’s struggles. In its Q2 earnings, LVMH said Guerlain witnessed strong growth.
