Launched by L.T. Piver in the early 1910s, Velivole is a fragrance that evokes a sense of freedom, lightness, and elegance. The name Velivole is derived from the French word “véloce,” meaning swift or quick, combined with a sense of flight or soaring. Pronounced “veh-lee-VOH-luh,” it encapsulates the spirit of effortless grace and the thrill of motion. In layman’s terms, Velivole suggests something that moves with elegance and fluidity, like a bird taking flight or the graceful passage of a cloud across the sky. This name would have brought to mind images of airy, untethered freedom and an almost weightless beauty.
The perfume was released during a period known as the Belle Époque, a time of great cultural flourishing in France that spanned the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The Belle Époque era was marked by a sense of optimism, technological advancements, and a refined aesthetic in fashion, art, and design. Women of this period embraced softer, more natural forms of beauty, celebrating lightness in both clothing and perfume. Corsets gave way to looser, more graceful silhouettes, and fashion emphasized the delicate and feminine. Velivole, as a fragrance, would have aligned perfectly with these ideals, offering an olfactory expression of the elegance and fluidity that defined the era.
The name Velivole itself invites associations with the airy, light qualities of a floral fragrance. Its composition likely balanced soft, ethereal florals with hints of freshness, evoking a sense of natural beauty as if plucked from a garden kissed by the breeze. For women of the time, this scent would have symbolized refinement, offering a connection to the modernist ideals of the period while maintaining the delicate femininity that was so coveted. The fragrance’s association with flight and freedom would have appealed to women who sought to express their independence and sophistication through their scent—allowing them to embody the elegance and grace of the times while embracing a new era of beauty and self-expression.
In Velivole, one can almost sense the flutter of petals caught in the wind, as if the very essence of flight and freedom was captured in the bottle, perfectly attuned to the evolving trends and desires of women in the early 20th century.
