Balenciaga Perfumes: La Fuite des Heures (1947)

La Fuite des Heures by Balenciaga was launched in 1947, with its American debut following by 1949 under the translated name Fleeting Moment. The original name, La Fuite des Heures, is French and translates literally to “the flight of the hours” or more poetically, “time slipping away.” Pronounced roughly as" lah fweet dayz uhr", the phrase carries a lyrical, almost philosophical quality. It suggests impermanence, the preciousness of passing moments, and the quiet melancholy of time that cannot be held. For a couture house like Balenciaga—known for restraint, structure, and intellectual elegance—the name reflects an emotional subtlety rather than overt glamour, positioning the fragrance as contemplative and refined rather than merely decorative.

The imagery evoked by La Fuite des Heures is soft yet profound: fading daylight, the slow movement of a clock’s hands, a woman pausing in reflection before an evening engagement. Emotionally, it conjures nostalgia, introspection, and a heightened awareness of the present moment. There is a sense of beauty tinged with transience—luxury not as excess, but as something fleeting and therefore precious. The name aligns closely with postwar sensibilities, where life, time, and beauty were newly valued after years of disruption and loss.

The fragrance emerged in the immediate post–World War II period, a time of rebuilding, reassessment, and cautious optimism. This era—often referred to as the postwar or late-1940s reconstruction period—saw women re-embracing femininity after years of austerity. Fashion was on the cusp of transformation, with Christian Dior’s “New Look” debuting in 1947 and redefining silhouettes through cinched waists, full skirts, and an emphasis on elegance and grace. In perfumery, this translated into fragrances that felt luxurious and emotionally resonant, offering escapism, reassurance, and beauty after hardship.

Women of the time would likely have related deeply to a perfume called La Fuite des Heures. Having lived through years when time was marked by uncertainty and sacrifice, the idea of savoring fleeting moments held powerful meaning. Wearing such a fragrance could be interpreted as an assertion of presence—an intimate indulgence that acknowledged both loss and renewal. It spoke to a woman who understood time’s fragility and chose elegance and sensuality as a response to it.

In scent, La Fuite des Heures interprets its name through contrast and progression. The bright, citrusy aldehydic opening feels like a sudden clarity—almost a sharp intake of breath—mirroring the immediacy of a passing moment. The heart of tuberose and jasmine introduces richness and emotional depth, while the inclusion of thyme adds an aromatic, slightly introspective edge. The woody base grounds the composition, suggesting the quiet persistence beneath the flow of time. The overall effect is not static but evolving, reinforcing the idea of movement and transition embedded in the name.

Created by Germaine Cellier, the fragrance sits within the aldehydic floral chypre tradition that was influential at the time, yet it bears her unmistakable boldness. While aldehydes and chypre structures were popular—following the trail blazed by earlier icons like Chanel No. 5—La Fuite des Heures distinguished itself through its assertive tuberose, unconventional thyme note, and emotional complexity. It did not merely follow trends but pushed against them, offering a more intellectual, slightly austere interpretation of femininity. In this way, the fragrance was both of its time and quietly radical, much like Balenciaga’s couture itself—timeless, thoughtful, and acutely aware that beauty, like time, is always in motion.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? It is classified as an aldehydic floral chypre fragrance for women. It begins with a citrusy aldehydic top, followed by a floral heart dominated by tuberose, jasmine and thyme, layered over a woodsy base.

Top notes: aldehydes, anise, bergamot, tarragon, orange, neroli, thyme, seringa
Middle notes: Bulgarian rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, lily of the valley, violet, tuberose
Base notes: opoponax, patchouli, cedar, orris, sandalwood, leather, ambergris, vanilla, tonka bean, coumarin, musk, vetiver

Scent Profile:

La Fuite des Heures unfolds like time itself—moment by moment, sensation by sensation—each note emerging with clarity before dissolving into the next. From the first breath, the aldehydes announce themselves with a luminous, almost silvery brightness. These early aroma chemicals, so prized in mid-20th-century perfumery, smell clean, airy, and abstract—like starched linen warmed by the sun or the fizz of champagne just poured. Rather than masking the natural materials, they magnify them, stretching light across the citrus notes that follow.

Bergamot, traditionally sourced from Calabria, Italy, lends a sparkling green-gold bitterness, finer and more nuanced than bergamot grown elsewhere due to Calabria’s unique coastal climate and mineral-rich soil. Sweet orange adds roundness and warmth, while neroli—distilled from bitter orange blossoms—introduces a soft floral radiance that bridges citrus and flower seamlessly.

Anise and tarragon contribute a subtle licorice-green sharpness, cool and aromatic, while thyme—herbal, sun-warmed, and slightly medicinal—adds an unexpected edge, grounding the brightness with Mediterranean austerity. Seringa (mock orange) adds a faint, creamy floral whisper, suggesting white petals just beginning to open.

As the fragrance settles, the heart reveals itself in layers of floral depth and texture. Bulgarian rose, revered for its velvety richness and faint honeyed spice, provides a plush, romantic core; roses from this region are distinguished by their balance of sweetness and complexity, shaped by the cool nights and long sunny days of the Rose Valley. Jasmine—likely jasmine grandiflorum—brings a narcotic warmth, simultaneously indolic and luminous, its sensuality softened and clarified by the surrounding aldehydes.

Ylang-ylang adds a creamy, banana-like floral richness, while lily of the valley, traditionally recreated through aroma chemicals, introduces a fresh, green, dewy sweetness that feels almost translucent. Violet contributes a powdery, slightly metallic softness, evoking cosmetics and silk gloves, while tuberose dominates the composition with its opulent presence—lush, creamy, and faintly animalic. Here, tuberose feels sculpted rather than wild, its natural intensity polished by synthetics that temper its density and extend its bloom without overwhelming the structure.

The base of La Fuite des Heures is where time slows, and memory lingers. Opoponax, a resin with balsamic, smoky sweetness, wraps the composition in warmth, while patchouli—earthy, dark, and slightly camphoraceous—anchors the fragrance with chypre depth. Cedar introduces dry, pencil-shaving clarity, contrasting beautifully with the creamy richness of sandalwood, whose milky, softly woody aroma evokes skin and warmth. Orris, derived from aged iris rhizomes, contributes a refined, powdery elegance—cool, rooty, and faintly violet-tinged—bridging floral and wood seamlessly.

Leather notes add a subtle, suede-like darkness, while ambergris, once sourced from the sea, imparts a salty, animalic glow that enhances longevity and diffusion rather than asserting itself overtly. Vanilla and tonka bean bring gentle sweetness; tonka’s coumarin note smells of hay, almond, and sun-warmed grass, echoing comfort and nostalgia. Musk, in its synthetic form, provides a clean yet intimate skin-like softness, while vetiver adds a final whisper of dry earth and smoke. Together, these elements create a base that feels both grounded and sensual—an elegant conclusion to a fragrance that captures the passing of hours not as loss, but as beauty in motion.

L'Amour de l'art, 1950:

"La Fuite des Heures by Balenciaga suggests a quiet search for lost time, experienced in the presence of a blonde huntress—an image of independence, elegance, and instinctive grace. Its scents evoke a harmonious, lingering memory: a solitary walk through the woods, where damp earth and foliage cling to the air, or a rain-soaked garden slowly dripping into shadow. The fragrance feels like an inward landscape as much as an external one, as if nature’s cool, verdant hush seeps gently into the inner self, leaving behind a persistent, contemplative echo."

The New Yorker, 1952:

"Balenciaga's Le Dix is in the inviting fruit-and-flowers tradition of Rochas' Femme (q.v.), but he's also come up with La Fuite des Heures, which is woodier, odd and elfin. These two are at Saks Fifth Avenue."

Combat, 1954:

"Eau La Fuite des Heures by Balenciaga captures the voluptuous swoon of tuberose, softened by airy touches of iris, luminous suggestions of mock orange, and gentle puffs of opoponax, all exquisitely tempered by the freshness of an eau de toilette. The composition idealizes the beauty of garden companions—those elegant, familiar presences encountered during afternoon tea, seated beneath the colorful shade of a wide parasol. It evokes youthful figures in flowing dresses, moving with affected nonchalance, endlessly playing at grace among flowering meadows, as if stepped directly from Claude Monet’s Blooming landscapes, where light, color, and motion dissolve into one another."

Fodor's France, 1958:

"Balenciaga. "Le Dix," designed for brunettes; "Fuite des heures," languishing; "Quadrille," spicy."

Bottles:

The parfum was presented with understated elegance in a quilted-pattern cardboard box, immediately signaling refinement and couture sensibility. Inside, the fragrance rested in the flacon modèle “encrier”, an inkwell-inspired bottle crafted from pressed, molded, colorless glass. Its oval body was articulated with graceful gadroons—soft, fluted ridges that caught and reflected the light—giving the bottle a sculptural, tactile presence. Crowning the design was a polylobed cabochon stopper, faceted yet rounded, which lent a sense of classical ornament and quiet luxury. Together, the materials and forms balanced simplicity with sophistication, echoing Balenciaga’s architectural approach to design and reinforcing the idea of the perfume as both an object of beauty and a vessel for something timeless and contemplative.

To open the classic Balenciaga crystal flacon, use the following tip provided by Parfums Balenciaga themselves in 1963:

Briefly immerse neck of bottle in boiling water; loop strong twine around neck and with a seesaw motion add more heat. The top is treaded, easy to hold firmly, twists off without difficulty.