Giorgio Beverly Hills

In 1961 George Grant and Fred Hayman founded Giorgio Beverly Hills, a women's fashion boutique. The name Giorgio came from an adaptation of George Grant's first name. However, a year later in 1962 Hayman bought out the business from Grant. In 1966 Hayman married Gale, who had worked in the Giorgio boutique since she was 19.

In 1979 it was decided that Giorgio should have a signature fragrance and after two years in development "Giorgio" was born in November '81. The perfume was kept exclusive to the boutique's clients but consumer demand was huge. In May 1983, the fragrance was advertised in Vogue with a scent strip - a marketing device not used before. The response was huge and orders came flooding in.

The same year, the Haymans divorce, but continue to work together despite clashes. In 1984 the fragrance was launched nationwide (in the US) in selected stores, and launched in Europe at Harvey Nichols in London. In Christmas of that year Giorgio was joined by Giorgio for Men.

1987 saw the Haymans sell the company to Avon for $165million. Over the next few years Giorgio launched more fragrances to great success: Red (1988), Red for Men (1991), Wings (1992) and Wings for Men (1994). In 1994 the Giorgio brand was acquired by Procter and Gamble for $150 million. P&G merged Giorgio with it's fine fragrance division Eurocos (Now known as P&G Prestige Beauté), which included the brands of Otto Kern, Hugo Boss and Laura Biagiotti.

Since P&G's acquisition more fragrances were added to the Giorgio range, but sadly no more for men: Giorgio Light in 1995; Giorgio Aire, Ocean Dream and Red 2, all in 1996 and Giorgio Holiday in 1998. These are all now no longer in production.

Update: In 2007 Arden Inc acquired the worldwide licence for Giorgio Beverly Hills