IN THE EARLY 1990s, the then Mayor of Versailles, André Damien, discovered a folded paper in the drawer of an antique desk he had just bought at auction. When he opened the paper up, he saw that it had written on it a formula for what seemed to be a perfume, so he took it to Jean Kerléo, the founder of the Osmothèque – the world’s only conservatory of perfumes, which is also located in Versailles…

This article first appeared in British Vogue online on 13 April 2020. To continue reading, click here.