Revlon Perfume
Revlon Revlon was founded in 1932 by Charles Revson, his brother Joseph, and a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the “L” in the company name. Revson was born in 1906, in the Jewish section of Montreal, though he later cited his birthplace as Boston.Revson worked for a cosmetics company, and when he was passed over for promotion to national distributor, he, his brother and Lachman pooled their limited resources to start their own company. They began with a single product, a nail enamel unlike anything else available at the time, made with pigments rather than dyes. Soon they expanded their range into a myriad of different shades. Their products were popular in salons from the outset, and they began to sell their polishes in department stores and chemists shops in 1937. Within 6 years the company became a multi million dollar concern and both a whole manicure range and lipstick was added to their product list.
During the Second World War, Revlon designed make up and related products for the U.S Army and in 1944, was honoured with the Army-Navy Award for Excellence. By the close of war, Revlon was one of America’s top cosmetic houses. The acquisition of Graef and Schmidt, a cutlery manufacturer seized by the government in 1943 due to its German business ties, made it possible for Revlon to produce their own manicure instruments rather than buying them form outside suppliers.
In 1952, Revlon launched “Fire and Ice”, their first fragrance, with much publicity and hype including radio adverts with Bob Hope and Red Skelton. Revlon went public in 1955, at $12 a share, rising to $30 a share within 8 weeks. The ‘60’s s saw Revlon segmenting the company into different divisions, each focusing on a different market with a particular target customer.
The company had begun to market its products overseas at the end of the 1950s. By 1962, when Revlon debuted in Japan, there were subsidiaries in France, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, and Asia. Revlon's entrance into the Japanese market was typical of its international sales strategy. Instead of adapting its ads and using Japanese models, Revlon chose to use its basic U.S. advertising and models. Japanese women loved the American look, and the success of this bold approach was reflected in the 1962 sales figures, which were almost $164 million. In 1973, Revlon introduced Charlie, aimed at the under 30’s woman, and it became one of the most famous fragrances in the world as well as the first product ever to be advertised by a woman wearing trousers.
Charles Revson died in 1975, reportedly a billionaire. In 1956, Revson established the Charles H. Revson Foundation, which he funded with over $10 million dollars during his lifetime. The Foundation funded schools, hospitals, and service organizations serving the Jewish community, mostly located in New York. Upon his death, Revson endowed the Foundation with $68 million from his estate and granted the board of directors the discretion to chart the Foundation's future course.
Revson was a hard driven perfectionist and his partners had severed ties with him. His nephew and heir, racing driver Peter Revson had died the year before and Michael Bergerac took over continuing Revlon’s expansion.
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