In 2002 I registered the name ‘Puredistance’ and started to work on building the company. I realised that launching a new perfume house with only one perfume (Puredistance I), would be an ‘all-or-nothing-venture’. Therefore I spent years figuring out the core values of Puredistance.
Key to better understand the rich and beautiful history of perfume was buying hundreds of vintage perfume flacons. Especially in the first part of the twentieth century many legendary perfumes and perfume brands were born. Collecting these beauties enriched me and slowly I got a feel for what later turned out to be the DNA of Puredistance. The highlight of my collection was a perfume launched in 1909 by D’Orsay with the name ‘Toujours Fidèle’: a beloved perfume for many years inside a crystal glass pillow shaped perfume bottle with a frosted French bulldog crystal stopper.
A dog, faithful as dogs can be, waiting on his luxury pillow for his boss to come home. The first moment I saw this bottle, I instinctively knew that loyalty should be one of the core values of Puredistance. Now, twenty years later, it turns out my gut feeling was right. The world today is in desperate need for personal warmth, for true caring and honesty. And that is what loyalty is all about.
Over the years I have seen Puredistance grow and do well. Even in these difficult years. Partly as a result of the beauty of the Magnificent XII perfume collection, partly as a result of our loyalty towards the perfume stores that sell us and towards our direct customers. All these years we kept our promises. Our promise of true exclusivity. Our promise of timelessly beautiful perfumes. Our promise of understated elegance and luxury.
Apart from that we kept our retail prices the same since the day we launched Puredistance I back in 2007 (so for 15 years!) and where these days most companies increase their retail prices (sometimes with shocking percentages) we decided to keep our retail prices in 2023 the same once again. For some of our customers price is not an issue, but for others buying a Puredistance perfume is a treat they can afford only once a year. Keeping our prices stable is a sign of loyalty towards our customers who together are the foundation of the world of Puredistance.
I wish everyone a happy 2023 and I promise you we will keep on dreaming and creating. – Jan Ewoud Vos, Founder Puredistance
P.S. When I wanted to thank Annie Buzantian (the Master Perfumer who created Puredistance I, ANTONIA and OPARDU for us) for all she had done for us, I gifted her an original, vintage ‘Toujours Fidèle Flacon. I felt this was the perfect gift to express the essence of our relationship. Annie is retired now, but we are still in touch and one more time I like to thank her for the gift of her personal perfume to me: Puredistance I. This started it all – in a beautiful way.
