Lajea (1923)

Launched in 1923, Lajéa by Lanvin is one of those perfumes whose very name seems to hold a subtle enigma. Pronounced as "lah-ZHAY-ah", the word carries a dual resonance. On one hand, it refers to Lajea, a region in Brazil, conjuring images of exotic landscapes, tropical light, and a sense of faraway escape. On the other, it can be read as an abbreviation of La Jeanne—a kind of playful, almost signature-like reference to Jeanne Lanvin herself. This duality makes the name both worldly and personal, both outward-looking and inwardly reflective, much like Lanvin’s work as a designer who combined her Parisian couture identity with inspirations gathered from her travels.

The images that Lajéa evokes are rich with atmosphere. One can imagine shimmering heat, lush greenery, and the languid beauty of distant lands, paired with the intimacy of something handcrafted and signed by its creator. For the fashionable women of the early 1920s, the name would have suggested both sophistication and modern curiosity. This was, after all, an era of fascination with the “exotic”—a time when Brazil, the Middle East, and Asia were romanticized in art, fashion, and interiors. But it was also the age of Les Années Folles (“the Crazy Years”), when women embraced newfound freedoms, short haircuts, dropped waists, and a dazzling mix of avant-garde and traditional beauty. Lajéa would have spoken to this balance: an exotic escape framed within the refinement of Parisian chic.

Created by Madame Marie Zede, Lajéa almost certainly reflected the prevailing trends in perfumery, where exotic florals, sensual orientals, and new synthetic molecules were transforming fragrance into an art of mood and atmosphere. In a landscape where Guerlain was offering Shalimar and Caron had Narcisse Noir, Lanvin’s Lajéa fit into the dialogue of exotic sophistication, yet with a uniquely personal twist in its name. Unlike perfumes that borrowed heavily from overtly “Orientalist” tropes, Lajéa offered a subtler narrative: a perfume that seemed to carry Jeanne Lanvin’s own signature while still promising a journey abroad.

To women of the 1920s, wearing a perfume called Lajéa would have meant more than simply enjoying a beautiful fragrance. It was a way of participating in the modern dialogue between self-expression and worldliness, between Paris and the wider globe. In scent, Lajéa might be interpreted as a fusion of radiant florals with warm, sensual undertones—a composition that, like its name, balanced freshness with depth, personal intimacy with cosmopolitan allure.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like?  I have no notes on this perfume, I would need a sample to tell you what it smells like.


In vintage newspapers of the day, the names of perfumes were often misspelled, as is the case with the ad from 1924 shown below. The names Lajea and Kara Djenoun were misspelled.

Bottles:

In 1927, the perfume was housed inside of the Sevres porcelain boule flacons. They were made to order and contained extracts of Lanvin's leading perfumes - Lajea, La Dogaresse, My Sin, Le Chypre, Comme Ci Comme Ca, J'En Raffole and later, the most famous of all, Arpege.

Other flacons were used such as the clear Baccarat crystal "cheval" bottle emblazoned with the Lanvin mother daughter logo on the front. The ad below shows two sizes of the bottle.

Fate of the Fragrance:

Discontinued, probably after 1930.