FASHION : France Puts Cork in Yves’ Perfume

Arose is a rose and Champagne is Champagne-- not perfume.

So ruled a French court late last week, halting the sales and marketing in France of Yves Saint Laurent’s “Champagne,” launched Sept. 20 in Europe.

Winemakers who filed the suit claimed the perfume--packaged in a Champagne-cork-like bottle--would diminish the image of their cherished elixir.

The judge agreed, ordering the confiscation and destruction of publicity and packaging by Nov. 28.

The ruling doesn’t affect the perfume’s American launch next year, says Jim Fusilli of Elf Sanofi, the pharmaceuticals group that purchased Yves Saint Laurent in May. Nor, he says, are alternative names being considered in France: “We have too much confidence in our appeal for that.”

This isn’t the first time Saint Laurent has ruffled his countrymen’s feathers. A few years ago, some Parisians worried that a YSL scent named “Paris” would be confused with their cherished city. No problems, so far.