ENTREPRENEURS: Merchant of Glamour

Charles Revson had an almost eerily unerring sense of what American women wanted—or could be persuaded to want. The autocrat-muse of Revlon, Inc., proved that over and over again in the four decades since he founded the company, most recently in 1973. That was when Revlon introduced a new perfume under the improbable name "Charlie." Associates grimaced, competitors smiled, and Revson went on talking about how it was perfect for "the woman who is sort of liberated but who isn't a bra burner." Revson's semi-lib market turned out to be there all...

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