No less than seven generations of perfumers have been involved in building the Creed expertise for 250 years.

The Creed family has not always been in the perfume business: from artisans to tailors to today's master perfumers, the family has a varied gift for creation.

The story of the house begins in London, after James Henry Creed, a talented and ambitious man who, despite the difficulties he faced since leaving Leicester in 1710, managed to build an iconic brand.

Having moved his tailoring business to Paris, and also splitting his time between Workingham and Marylebone, his comings and goings helped to establish the house's Franco-British heritage. Henry Creed was the first English tailor to set up shop in Paris at 25 rue de la Paix.

In 1860, according to an article published in the Army and Navy Gazette, Henry Creed of 'Creed and Cumberland' was received by Queen Victoria and the major courts of Europe. This was not the first time Henry had crossed paths with royalty: he began working at D'Antin Paris, for tailors Messrs Harris & co, for whom he designed clothes for European royalty. In 1885, Henry received a Royal Approval, signed by the Mistress of Dresses Annie Roxburgh. Henry also made an equestrian suit for Queen Victoria, which is now in the Kyoto Museum. This same suit inspired the image of the house's Aventus for Her fragrance.

Henry Creed lived not only in Paris, but also in Nice at 12 Avenue Massena, only 25km from the birthplace of perfumery: Grasse.

After Henry Creed's death, his son Henry and grandson James, father of Olivier, inherited the family business. Sewing retained a special place in the family with Henry's son Charles working as an apprentice at Linton Tweeds.

Charles later became a member of the British Fashion Institute. He then joined the family business in 1935 after working as a labourer at Bergdorf Goodman. While he was running the house in Paris, his brother embarked on an expedition across the seas to the Far East.

While James travelled to Japan, Henry and Charles were at the forefront of the couture world with Charles Creed revealing the Henry Creed and Co spring collection of sportswear and evening wear at the Gotham Hotel. The year 1939 saw record sales in the US, with Creed - under Charles' management - and Lanvin remaining open despite the war.

After the death of Henry Senior in 1949, James and the young Olivier Creed continued the legacy of La Maison Creed. Olivier, creator of the iconic perfume Aventus, was applauded for transforming the house. In the first edition of Creed magazine, Olivier explains, "My grandmother helped me a lot, she even gave me a mould to make the bottles, and my father told me that if this is what I'm really passionate about, I should stick with it."

Today, Olivier - accompanied by his son Erwin - creates artisanal perfumes in the company's factory in Fontainebleau.