However, things are not that clear cut. Above: c. I will generally refer to it simply as Klytia from here on. Left ; right Note the Star of David on both shields. Although Klytia was not the first beauty business to open in France its importance should not be overlooked.
I have no doubt that Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden would have booked treatments there when they first came to Paris. See also: Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. Both women followed their mother into the beauty industry. However, this does not invalidate the earlier date. Marie Valentin Le Brun may have gone into the beauty business in before joining forces with Victor Merle who appears to have been a hairdresser.
However, given the wide range of products Klytia had available in it does not sound unreasonable that manufacturing had started a year earlier. I have no records of any new business entity being established by either of them until the late s.
I note that Le Brun is often omitted from Klytia advertisements which suggests that Merle may have been the biggest financial contributor to the business. Soon after it opened, Klytia began collecting awards for its products at exhibitions across Europe, including Paris , Nice, and Rome , Paris, London, Vienna, and Amsterdam , and Saint Petersburg The prestige from these awards helped Klytia establish outlets across Europe and elsewhere.
By , its products were available in major capitals around in the Western world including London, Vienna, Berlin, St. Klytia also opened a number of additional salons starting with Nice followed by Vichy and Monte-Carlo.
