L'Occitane en Provence is an international retailer of body, face, and home products based in Manosque, France. The company was founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan with the purpose to create a company that celebrates and preserves the traditions of his native Provence. L’Occitane means “the woman from Occitania”.

The company aspires to be "the worldwide reference for Mediterranean well-being, with unique body, face, and home products". The company's stated brand values are: "Authenticity and naturalness," "Effectiveness and pleasure," and "Respect and responsibility." In 2010, the company became listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

In 1976, 23-year old Olivier Baussan used steam distillation to produce essential oil from wild rosemary and lavender which he sold at open-air markets in his native Provence. L’Occitane was named for the women of Occitania. This area existed during the Middle Ages, spanning southern France, north-eastern Spain and northern Italy. Occitan was the native language and is still spoken as a second language in some areas of this region today.

Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford (born August 27, 1961) is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.

Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in Austin, Texas, to realtors Tom Ford and Shirley Burton. He spent his early life in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, and in San Marcos, outside Austin; his family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, when he was 11. In Santa Fe, he entered St. Michael's High School and later moved to Santa Fe Preparatory School, from which he graduated in 1979. Ford left Santa Fe at age 16, when he enrolled at Bard College at Simon's Rock, but quickly dropped out.^{[citation needed]} He then moved to New York City to study art history at New York University.

Ford dropped out of NYU after only a year, preferring to concentrate on acting in television commercials; at one time, he was in 12 national advertising campaigns simultaneously. Ford then began studying interior architecture at The New School's famous art and design college, Parsons The New School for Design. During his time in New York, Ford became a fixture at the legendary nightclub Studio 54, where he realized he was gay. The club's disco-era glamor would be a major influence on his later designs. Before his last year at New School, Ford spent a year and a half in Paris, where he worked as an intern in Chloé's press office. Though his work primarily involved sending clothes out on photo shoots, it triggered his love of fashion. He spent his final year at The New School studying fashion, but nonetheless graduated with a degree in architecture.