On November 17, 2009, Madison Perfumery in Bucharest hosted a party for the launch of By Kilian Back to Black. Brand founder Kilian Hennessy was present for the rout which took the proportions of a veritable perfume launch, an unusual, ambitious and creative undertaking for a perfumery store as opposed to a perfume brand. Owner Madeleine Florescu is behind the concept.
Foreword: This is not a review. This started as a teaser, then an introduction and ended being a more developed commentary on the idea of the perfume, as I see it today (courtesy of the blog medium).
You can watch a short film that was shot for the launch of the fragrance after the jump.
*La version française de ce commentaire se trouve à l'intérieur de l'article.*
L'Eau Serge Lutens: The Enduring Scent of Anti-Conformismor the Anti-Anti Perfume
Serge Lutens is preparing to launch his new opus co-created by four hands or rather two noses with his old accomplice, perfumer Christopher Sheldrake, who is now working at Chanel. In an interview from the press release, he said,
"I wanted to create an "anti-fragrance" whose notes and impressions would create a lasting sensation of wearing a "clean" scent, not a "perfume." My intention was not to have it supplant perfume, but to help restore the original pleasure of wearing fragrance. This creation is my response to a world that is overscented... I might even say "embalmed"... in the sense that the ritual of wearing perfume is no longer about romance but part of a meaningless ritual.
L'eau Serge Lutens is my riposte. it expresses a longing for cleanliness and a reaction against society's compulsion to fill the air with artificial scents. it's like a breath of pure, bracing mountain air."
This new perfume called L'Eau Serge Lutens (lit. The Serge Lutens Water/Eau) is a clear departure at the theoretical level at least from the aesthetic path taken by the Lutensian perfumery on exhibit at the Palais Royal but, I would argue, not so much in essence as it is a perfumery which is intrinsically and morally motivated by an anti-conformist movement. Where Lutens's perfumery seemed to be committed without fail to a deepening of the complex Orientalist writing streamlined nonetheless by a style that is reflective, intellectualist and always a little cathartic on the personal plane, the new scent aims to stand as an iconoclastic tract penned against the outrageously perfumed air of the Zeitgeist.
Has Lutens done anything different in the past? I would argue that no, his perfumery has been an anti-perfumery from the start, based on a movement of rejection of the mold as he has explained himself. In a world where olfactory refinement, of which Lutens is a key figure and an exemplar for fine perfumery, is giving way to vulgarity and facile virtues, how to reorganize the universe of ideal aesthetic values?...
Axe commercials are well-known for their humor and creativity. They also rely on a heavy-handed gender message to sell their scents, from making women go wild to reminding guys that they better stick to their Axes rather than take the risk of smelling effeminate.
Drop your Camay or Cashmere Bouquet and squeeze out some Axe! Never, ever, lay hands on a pink soap or all sorts of weird things might start happening to you.
The beauty of it is that despite the straight message, it might still titillate a gay male audience. There is humor for everyone here.
Yves Saint Laurent have released their new advert featuring the redesigned flacon of Opium EDP, which I mentioned earlier. It is a true beauty in person.
The redesign is credited to Stephano Pilati and Fabien Baron. The model is Karen Elson.
I mentioned earlier on that Guerlain was preparing to launch a special edition of their classic men's perfume beloved by women, Habit Rouge. The advertising campaign has started with this new advert featuring an ornate, metalized bottle for the edition Beau Cavalier (handsome rider).
The whole concept of the ad revolves around the idea of a perfume aristocratic enough to belong to a coat of arms and allude to the way of life of hunting parties.
There is apparently a cute, girly and mischievous version of the TV commercial for Ricci Ricci by Nina Ricci featuring model Jessica Stam. It plays either in English or French. Here is the French version,
hen there is an alternate version which is sultrier in style thanks to just the change of music and suddenly you start noticing the character's leather gloves much more (they are also more the focus of attention of the camera). It feels a bit more rock n' roll too..
Perfumers Jean-Claude Ellena and Jacques Cavallier talk to the camera of France 3. The sincerity of creation can find an echo or not in fashion and the public. Despite the creative challenges created by the large yearly output of fragrances, France remains the world leader in the field. L'Oréal executive Jamel Boutiba proposes to see two main categories of perfumes: identity perfumes and perfumes of circumstances or fashion scents.
Martha Steward had a whole show dedicated to fragrance on Sept 30, 2009. Highlights are capturing the scent of peony with IFF experts (good demonstration of headspace technique), Aerin Lauder talking about Jasmine Moss, making lavender sachets and planting garlic. We are also officially told that Martha Stewart's favorite perfume is Fracas by Robert Piguet, and more.
As previously announced, a new flanker version of Chloe was launched in October 2009 called Chloe Eau de Parfume Intense. This is the new print advert for it featuring model Clémence Poesy.
It's all in the gaze. How to convey the odoriferous intensity of the fragrance visually? Just look intensely at the camera lens, i.e., you the viewer, and make you imagine how intensely efficacious the perfume is going to be in attracting passion, adulation, you name it.
The sky is the limit usually in commercial perfumery catering to collective desires.
Enjoli by Charles of the Ritz was launched in 1978 to the tune of "I'm a Woman" a 1962 song by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller which was paraphrased in the commercial featuring a domestic goddess, a career woman and sex kitten all folded into one person. She can put the wash on the line, feed the kids, bring back the bacon, fry it in the pan and never, never let you forget you're the man.
The official tag line was "The 8 hour perfume for the 24 hour woman."
So retro, so funny (still funny after all these years). Also great 70s looks and dos.
It's a nightmare really. Tell a woman she is an emancipated woman/feminist and she will be your willing slave.
Enjoli is now sold under the Revlon brand name with a vestigial tag line from its 70s heydays: "The essence of having it all,"
Current notes are:
Top Notes: Hyacinth, Tuberose, Galbanum Mid Notes: Jasmine, Tuberose, Rose, Lily of the Valley Dry Down: Sandalwood, Amber, Oakmoss, Musk
Click on the link to watch the commercial and peruse the original lyrics...
Victoria's Secret threw a photo call / launch party for their new perfume called Velvet at VS Lexington Avenue store in NYC today featuring spokesmodel Alessandra Ambrosio. There was a giant cake in the shape of the new fragrance; now that's an idea for a perfume lover party: the flacon-cake.
It reminds me incidentally that last time I visited a VS store I came out with the most unlikely perfume purchase, one that I would have never suspected might even interest me before I stepped into the boutique. But I try to be impartial when I smell and... got won over by the ditziest scent ever. It' all conceptual. As in, it is so ditzy, it's good. Well, at least that's what I thought then. I am afraid of re-smelling it and having to face the fact that you start thinking strange things when you are lured into the ambiance of a VS temple of girlitude.
Maison Dorin, a revivalist perfume and beauty brand originally established in the 18th century, has sent us a video of the perfume show that took place in Florence last month, Pitti Immagine Fragranze.
I don't know if this will appeal to people who are not into perfume already, but this is typically the kind of viewing that fragrance addicts call "perfume porn", which means that there are many bottles of perfume to be contemplated, if not smelled...
Candace Bushnell, the author of Sex and the City, has a new web series called The Broadroom created in partnership with Maybelline New York. In episode 2 entitled The Sweet Smell of Success, the scent of vanilla is featured as the key to dealing with difficult men.
"In this
episode, starring Jennie Garth and Jennifer Esposito, the girls let us in on a
few 'other' uses for vanilla fragrance."
In case the trick does not work for you, you can try pumpkin and lavender, which has been shown in one study, if not necessarily to make men nicer, to make them more excited.
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