Just in time for the summer , Italian fashion house Gucci recently released their third official fragrance under the creative direction of Alessandro Michele, with a gender neutral scent titled Gucci Mémoire d’une Odeur. The perfume’s aroma is mainly defined by a note of Roman chamomile, with hints of Indian coral jasmine, sandalwood and cedar wood to create a feeling that takes one back in time.
“Everything comes from my obsession with scents: my memory is primarily olfactive so, for me, my sense of smell is my memory. I thought that, deep down, perfume is that thing that even with your eyes closed, brings you to a precise moment in space and time. When we began to work on Gucci Mémoire d’une Odeur, I tried to imagine the recollection of a scent that couldn’t easily be identified; a hybrid scent that resembles memory as much as possible,” explained Alessandro Michele.
For the fragrance’s campaign, the maison opted for some of its favourite faces including singer songwriter Harry Styles, young British designer Harris Reed , American designer and musician Zumi Rosow among a few other familiar faces as they’re shot by Glen Luchford frolicking and bonding in the woods. Gucci Mémoire d’une Odeur is now in stores and available online.
Spritz and escape: these floral-laced scents are your passport to summer. Who cares about the weather when you’re carrying orange blossom and lavender notes wherever you go. These spring and summer season scents are all about embracing the fantasy, helping you to shake off the winter blues and reach for the sky.
Described as an ‘olfactory storyteller’, Timothy Han is flipping the fragrance landscape on its head with his innovative approach to scent through his brand TH/E Parfum. By taking inspiration from a multitude of sources, such as literature, he is adept at never limiting himself to widely perceived ‘norms’ of practice. Most recently, Han has been combining fragrance with music and VR, to create an entirely new sensory experience. This week, he will appear in residency at Somerset House, as part of their Perfume Lab series. We caught up with the man himself to discover the process behind the genius…
You create perfumes that have a life of their own – what was your journey into this world? My journey into the world of fragrance was rather accidental. I wouldn’t say there was any specific moment that led to where I am today – rather a haphazard series of events that led from one thing to another. It was everything from my time working with a fledgling John Galliano and his love of scented candles to launching my own candle brand; a chance and somewhat amusing encounter with Francis Kurkdijan who planted the idea in my head and a drink with my friend Paul Tvaroh who started making drinkable perfumes many, many years ago. I was also very lucky to have the support of Caroline Burstein who was the creative director of Browns at the time, and she promised that if I made perfume that Browns would help launch the brand. Who could say no to that?
Why was creating scent built through journey important to you? One of the things I learned at Galliano was the importance of storytelling. At a time when most designers were just sending models down catwalks he was creating theatre. The models were acting out characters from a story he imagined. They entered by driving vintage cars, John’s interpretation of the catwalk was filled with props like writing desks, wardrobes and beds…he even had ancillary actors on the stage who were dressed in costume and helped to round out the story that he was trying to tell. It was his attention to and ability to create a journey for both the audience and the models which I could see created a much richer and engaging experience than what anybody else was doing that inspired me.
How do you see the relationship between literature and perfume, and who inspires the scents? I never liked it when a perfumer created a perfume based on something so personal to themselves that the person wearing the perfume had no connection to. I like the idea that with literary inspirations you may have read the book and you certainly can read the book on which the perfume is based so that immediately you have a basis for connection. That way you can agree or disagree with my interpretation and we can at least begin to build a dialogue.
What’s your favourite creation so far? That’s like asking a parent which their favourite child is…but if I had to answer I would say my first fragrance ‘She Came to Stay’ for no other reason than that is what set me on this wonderful ride.
And were there particular creations that surprised you? Certainly…but I haven’t released them. And for those who do get to experience them it will only be fleeting, during secret underground performances (at least until our album is released next year) of our collective Miro Shot that fuses music, fragrance and virtual reality to create a new kind of immersive reality concert experience.
What are your earliest memories of scent? At the risk of sounding corny…walking through a pine forest in winter.
How do you think people’s relationship with scent changes as they mature? I’m not sure that that is so easy to answer – as I think it comes down to the person. While generally speaking (and baring any disabilities) we all have have a sense of smell like we all have eyes to see. But how many people look up in this world or are even remotely aware of half of what their eyes take in at any one time. It’s the same with our sense of smell – for our relationship with smell to change we need to focus on it and be aware of all that it is taking in.
How has the landscape changed? What is it that makes a scent ‘modern’? People are definitely becoming more aware of fragrance and in particular niche brands. More people are seeking out unique fragrances which reflect their personality and allow them to stand apart from all the masses wearing big brand perfumes. As for what makes a scent modern – it’s the way in which the fragrances are combined and the use of ingredients. For example: you are seeing a lot more fragrances which evoke tar and charcoal now than previously.
What are you looking forward to with your residency at Somerset House? I’m looking forward to two things. Firstly the lab we are using is being kindly provided by Givaudan and they have a number of proprietary fragrance notes which they will be providing us and which I have never had a chance to smell before. Secondly I will be working alongside my friend Roman Rappak where we will be tying fragrance notes to musical notes. Up until now we have only done this in the privacy of our own workspace so it will be fun to hear people’s feedback as we present variations of different musical notes against a specific fragrance note.
‘Perfume Lab Residencies: Timothy Han’ takes place on Sunday 23 July, 2017. See https://www.somersethouse.org.uk for booking information.
Becky Smith is the Creative Director for Timothy Han; photography throughout by George Harvey; produced by Twin Studio.
As winter draws to an end, there’s no better way to welcome a new season than with a new scent. For those who want to take the romance of cosying up with a good novel with them wherever they go, BYREDO’s new perfume Bibliothèque will prove positivelydreamy.
Peach, plum and vanilla notes fuse to evoke that unforgettable scent of fresh pages, strengthened by hints of patchouli and leather. Originally a candle and then a room spray, the Eau de Parfum will be released for a limited time only.
Bibliothèque Eau de Parfum (100ml / £150) is available from March.
REEK is a new feminist perfume brand from created in collaboration with perfumer Sarah McCartney. Designed to make a stand through everyday rebellion, REEK is about empowering women through the commemoration of fierce feminists that have come before. Using the unifying and transcendent power of scent, this is a fresh and exciting take on engendering a conversation around women’s rights and identity. Twin caught up with Bethany Grace to talk badass bitches and what makes REEK smell so good.
How did Reek come about?
In our culture, we don’t memorialise our amazing women, and that means female role models are lost. In the UK only 15% of statues are raised to women, and most of those are to Queen Victoria. So we started thinking of ways we could change that. Scent is so evocative, it’s also a great means of rebellion. No one needs to know you’re wearing a scent that stands for something, unless you tell them.
Who are the women that you were inspired by when creating the perfume?
DAMN REBEL BITCHES was named after 18th century Jacobite women, as badass political activists and dissidents they were the right inspiration for our first scent. The Duke of Cumberland called them Damn Rebel Bitches because they wouldn’t give up on their cause. They were fearless. Jacobean Lady Nithsdale broke her husband out of the Tower of London in 1716 by dressing him in drag. There is no statue of her.
Scent is so individual, what ingredients did you feel embodied a universal sense of heroism, and why?
We work collaboratively with perfumer Sarah McCartney. The scents we picked all pay homage to the women of the 18th century. Blood orange peel was used as a deodorant, clary sage as a herb in women’s medicine and pink peppercorn was the most expensive thing you might have in your kitchen at the time, if you were lucky. Though perhaps not a universal representation of heroism, these are scents that speak to the real lives of powerful women – women stood up for what they believed in.
What kind of things did you look at to develop the scent – were there any fragrances of the past that inspired you?
It’s not necessarily scents from the past that inspire us but the female pioneers in perfume from history. The first prominent female perfumer was Germaine Cellier who broke into the industry through sheer determination in the mid-20th century. There was no question that we wanted to work with a female perfumer to combat the sexism in the industry even now.
How do you know when a perfume is finished, what are you looking for?
I suppose we just close our eyes, sniff and rely on our noses. For REEK it is more than just creating the right scent, it’s creating a present-day memorial. We’re currently developing a new fragrance for next year to commemorate a different set of women. Researching and coming to understand who that woman is takes a lot of work.
How do you see scent as a medium for commenting on the role of women today?
As an everyday rebellion. We still have so much to fight for, and we can’t go forward without looking back. So our first scent is about the strong women we admire, whose stories aren’t widely known, and who shouldn’t be forgotten. At REEK we believe that we need role models in order to be role models. Our campaign features women of a variety of ages and sizes, all un-retouched beautiful bitches. No retouching isn’t a revolutionary concept within the industry but we wanted to reiterate how important it is to combine no retouching with diversity – of race, of size, of age. We could have just taken photos of the perfume and it’s ingredients, avoiding any direct representation of women, but having this medium available to us we took a stand, as we emblazon on our website and t-shirts ‘BITCHES UNITE’.
What do you hope to achieve with the brand going forward?
More perfumes. More amazing women to memorialise. More feminist campaigns. More rebellion.
For the first time, the maison of Louis Vuitton has unveiled a series of seven fragrances, created by master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud. The accompanying campaign, shot by Patrick Demarchelier, features the sultry gaze of Palm d’Or-winning actress Léa Seydoux.
Of the range of scents in the premier collection – ‘Rose des Vents’, ‘Turbulences’, ‘Dans la Peau’, ‘Apogée’, ‘Contre Moi’, ‘Matière Noire’ and ‘Mille Feux’ – a full journey of emotions, from dark to light and self-revelation is the aim.
In keeping with the brand’s history of, and with, travel – Demarchelier and Seydoux journeyed to South Africa to shoot the coinciding ads, and wanted the wet-haired nonchalance of adventure to add to the purity of the actress’s natural beauty, mirroring the simple ethos of the perfumes themselves.
“Louis Vuitton is about travel, but it’s also about dreams. Its spirit blends adventure, discovery and emotion. I am very honoured to embody this universe.” – Léa Seydoux
Admission: I used to hate gourmand fragrances. Not spicy ones but obvious scents that smelt of chocolate and caramel and vanilla. Oh and fruity florals were an absolute bugbear. Why? Well in all honesty I felt they were too obvious, too commercial, too lowest common denominator (yes it was a bit snobbish of me I admit). I felt they were predominantly marketed and aimed at young girls with unsophisticated tastes who wanted to smell good enough to eat. Who would want to smell like something edible? I did at the age of 18 – I used to wear the long defunct Body Shop Mango oil and also the Vanilla and Dewberry oil. With the vanilla I thought I smellled as good as bowl of fresh custard.
How naïve I was! The grown up me found gourmand scents totally unacceptable. But I’ve had something of a damascene conversion. I think this is because some of my favourite indie perfume brands have been making gourmands recently that are a little bit different. They are not your usual fruity florals or toffee caramel concoctions. Byredo’s Pulp does smell of exotic fruit, but it also smells of green leaves and stems and slightly sour but fresh foliage. So it’s a kind of interesting riff on the gourmand genre. Likewise Tom Ford’s Tobacco Vanille – yes, it smells of vanilla and cocoa beans and other delicious edibles but there’s also a tinge of smoke, a dirty gentleman’s clubby woodyness about it that lends it a sophistication and hauteur that a straight vanilla wouldn’t have. Lastly, Etat Libre d’Orange’s Like This, Tilda Swinton fragrance is equally off-key. It smells of carrots and gingerbread and almonds – not your obvious epicurean fragrance by a long chalk. So, thanks to the niche perfumers gourmand fragrances are changing. I love these new oddball gourmands, if only the blockbuster brands would pay heed.
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