Private Collection by Estée Lauder was launched in 1973 after having been part of Estée Lauder's own very private collection of fragrances - at least this is how the story goes - only shared at one point with a few friends, in particular Grace Kelly to whom she offered it as a gift in the years preceding its official launch. It is reported to have been a favorite of the Duchess of Windsor as well.
Finally, pressured by multiple admirers of the fragrance, Lauder gave in and decided to market it. As the advertising copy read "All you need is one beautiful drop to know why Estée Lauder was keeping Private Collection perfume to herself."
The scent of privilege that Private Collection exudes has resisted this movement of democratization and despite the fact that it is now available easily through the Estée Lauder website at a most amicable price, it might still select its wearers through its olfactory branding of money, luxury, and class. This branding becomes even more apparent when one looks at the succession of advertisements throughout the years that have pointed to the ideal Private Collection woman: she is ever the incarnation of chic and her natural environment is the living room or reception space in which she welcomes her guests as she is emblematically pictured as the most suave of hostesses. The fragrance has consistently been marketed as a formal perfume although its green notes lend it an active, day-time character too which makes it versatile enough.
My perception of the popularity of the perfume today is that it is one of the less mainstream Estée Lauder perfumes, comparable in that respect to Estée, Spellbound, Azurée, and Alliage, but that amongst those who know it and carry it off well, it is very much appreciated......
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