Heritage
A house, in its own words
Charles Haskell Revson was born on October 11, 1906, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. Before entering cosmetics, Revson worked as a newspaper salesman and display ad salesman. In 1932, Revson partnered with his brother Joseph and chemist Charles Lachman to found Revlon in New York City. The company's initial focus was nail polish, but Revson's aggressive marketing and product innovation rapidly expanded the brand. The trio's complementary skills (Revson's salesmanship, Joseph's business acumen, and Lachman's chemical expertise) created a foundation that would eventually grow into a global cosmetics giant. Revlon established its headquarters in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it remained. In 1956, Revson created the Charles H. Revson Foundation, which made its first grants as an endowed foundation in 1978. Charles Revson died of cancer at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, marking the end of an era for the company he built from modest beginnings into one of the largest retail cosmetics and fragrance manufacturing firms in the United States. Revson's fragrance philosophy emerged from his belief that perfume should reflect contemporary life rather than timeless abstraction. He famously understood that American women wanted scents that spoke to their actual experiences, not borrowed European fantasies. When Revlon launched Charlie in 1973, the fragrance became the first to feature a woman in trousers in its advertising, a direct reflection of the era's feminist movement and changing social norms. Revson reportedly viewed fragrance as an extension of a woman's independence and self-expression, not merely a luxury accessory. His collaboration with designer Norman Norell on the 1968 Norell fragrance demonstrated his willingness to partner with fashion talent to create cohesive sensory experiences. The brand's decades-long fragrance program showed a commitment to innovation over tradition, releasing new scents that responded to cultural shifts rather than adhering to classic olfactory families.