When it comes to scents, we’re increasingly looking to the past

For the most part, the houses that managed to stay intact through World War II couldn’t recoup their losses during the lean postwar years and folded. Those that survived were often pushed out of department stores by corporations that had bought up multiple fragrance, cosmetics and fashion brands and had the power to negotiate shelf space. Now, even larger brands like Chanel and LVMH’s Dior and Guerlain are releasing their own fragrance revivals. Marketing research seems to have confirmed what the little houses already knew: When it comes to scents, we’re increasingly looking to the past to discover what’s timeless in a world flooded with novelty. — Read more in How Do You Resurrect a Lost Perfume? at The New York Times.