Bosquet d’Apollon by Rosine, launched in 1922, is a fragrance that transports the wearer into the manicured splendor of the French Baroque — specifically, into the mythical and meticulously designed gardens of Versailles. The name, Bosquet d’Apollon (pronounced boh-SKAY dah-poh-LOHN), translates to "The Grove of Apollo" in French, referencing one of the most famous garden features at the Palace of Versailles. The Apollo Grove was commissioned by Louis XIV, the Sun King, who identified with the god Apollo as a symbol of art, light, and order. By naming this perfume after such a landmark, Poiret paid tribute not only to classical mythology but also to a golden age of French refinement and spectacle.
Poiret, deeply fascinated by the grandeur and extravagance of the Ancien Régime, often referenced 18th-century aesthetics in his designs, and Bosquet d’Apollon was an olfactory extension of this fascination. In the early 1920s — a period known as Les Années Folles (the "crazy years"), a French parallel to the Roaring Twenties — women were reclaiming social freedom through fashion, art, and fragrance. While many fragrances of the time leaned into heavy orientals or powdery florals, Bosquet d’Apollon distinguished itself with its verdant freshness, echoing the post-rain clarity and lushness of Versailles’ royal gardens. It conjured not an opulent ballroom, but rather the serene, dew-soaked pathways where nobility might stroll after a summer rain.
