MADELEINE - T.LeClerc cosmetic

French luxury cosmetics

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The story of powder box T.LeClerc

By the end of the 19th century, women of the higher society mainly used talcum powder dimming effect for their makeup. Théophile LeClers, a pharmacist, prepared in his shop on 10 rue Vignon, a rice makeup powder with unique properties. Being an artist, and a former student of the famous French school of visual arts - the Les Beaux Arts – LeClers personally designed the round box, in which he hoped to soon start selling this rare powder.

In the end, the box was given this form: it was made of mat silver aluminium, and its convex, decorative lid was inscribed with the words “Podre Dermophile Stériliséede T. LeClerc 10 rue Vignon Paris.“ The first box of T. LeClerc powder was made.

The original box, and its design have undergone several changes since, however.

After 1930, fashion sense was very different. T. LeClerc’s successor decided to modify the original packaging in order to achieve a more colorful, and modern appearance. TO this end, the lid was decorated with a blue label that showed two thin women clothed in black, sitting opposite to each other. One of them was powdering her face, while the other looked herself over in a mirror. The wording was also changed, to “LeClerc Paris” and the address disappeared. The decorative relief designed by Théophil LeClerc remained, however.

In the 70’s, a new design was introduced. The illustration became more feminine and elegant. The basis was salmon pink and the silhouette of the two women sitting opposite to each other seemed to rise from it like in a shadowy painting or a cameo. As a reminder o the long tradition, the box was inscribed with the date of foundation – 1881, and the letter T for Théophil reappeared.

The actual date when the first box of the famous powder was made, has surprisingly only been determined in 1989. A complete original form was found in the basement of the LeClerc pharmacy – the Théophiles original workshop; the form was used by Théophil LeClers himself. The date on the form read 1881. The then owner of the pharmacy, Mr. Brami, made a copy of the original packaging using the exact same materials.

Just as a hundred years ago, this new version was met with an immediate success among the women of Paris.

This time, however, the aluminium box became a success even beyond the borders of France.

In 1995, Laboratoire Brami introduced a solid version of the powder, whose packaging followed the spirit of the original box. In 1998, a complete collection of decorative cosmetics was brought to the market, and each product had its own elegant copy of the original design. In 2000, T. LeClerc entered into the market of skin care products with its series of products aimed at this marked under the slogan “colour with care.”

By the beginning of the 21st century, the powder box T. LeClerc is well known across the world, and sells in more than 30 countries on 5 continents.