Jean Despres (1903 – August 19, 1978) was a French-born American perfume executive who spent nearly fifty years at Coty.inc, rising from a shipping clerk to Executive Vice President. He helped shape modern fragrance marketing, pioneered in-store cosmetics merchandising, and co-founded key industry institutions such as the Fragrance Foundation and the Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards.
Life and career
The French-born Jean Despres came to New York City in 1921, working for Coty. Starting as a shipping clerk, he went on to become a travelling salesman, covering thousands of miles on the Santa Fe Railroad across America to sell Coty perfumes and gift sets. He soon became a sales manager, and in 1942 was appointed Executive Vice President of Coty. He had held this position for more than 25 years when Pfizer purchased Coty in 1968.
Coty was a French perfume company created by wealthy François Coty, proprietor of Le Figaro, the French daily newspaper headquartered on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, and owner of numerous chateaux and villas in France and Corsica. Coty died in 1934. Jean Despres led Coty in New York, alongside Philippe Cortney, the brother-in-law of Mrs Coty-Cotnareanu. He founded the Fragrance Foundation in New York for the perfume industry, serving as its president. When he retired, he appointed Anette Greene. He was a founder of the Toilet Goods Association Inc., Washington, D.C., and was its president in the 1960s, attending annual meetings until 1987, a year before his death.
Family
Despres married milliner and fashion designer Lilly Daché in Palm Beach, Florida in 1931.