Montana Fragrances

Montana was born Claude Montamat in Paris in 1947, to a German mother and a Spanish father. At the age of seventeen, Montana moved to London and began making jewelry. He soon attracted the attention of stylists and other fashion insiders, but he returned to Paris a few years later and began working for more established designers and enjoying the city’s nightlife. Montana launched his own fashion house in 1979 and earned notice as one of the up-and-coming designers of the early 1980s. His designs were strong and sculpted, and often androgynous—he helped to make shoulder-pads part of the decade’s fashion vocabulary. His friends included fellow designer Thierry Mugler, Cher, and the actresses Jeanne Moreau and Charlotte Rampling. He became part of the tradition of Parisian haute couture when he was appointed head designer of Lanvin in 1989. However, by the mid-90s, his brand was tarnished by his erratic behavior (he was a habitual drug-user) and his designs were less critically and commercially successful. He became more and more reclusive, especialy after the suicide of his muse (and wife) Wallis Franken in 1996. Montana’s fragrance line was launched in the mid-1980s with scents such as the animalic Parfum de Peau, followed by Parfum d’Elle, Just Me, and BLU. Several fragrances from the collection are still available, and as Montana’s reputation continues to be revived, they are more timely than ever.