Frederic Malle will be appearing at several Barneys locations to introduce his home fragrance line:
“Freddie is like a fabulous character out of Proust. The mysterious cult of Frederic Malle…”
One caveat
He made his first call to Pierre Bourdon, who had created the iconic Cool Water for Davidoff and worked at Roure in the ’80s. Malle gave him one caveat. “I said, ‘Let’s find a way not to be copied. The people who others copy go cheap.’ ”
— From Scent of Success, about the Frédéric Malle perfume line, with many thanks to Monika for the link!
Top 10 Spring Fragrances 2010
Spring! Finally. It isn’t summer, but it’s almost summer, and if, like me, you detest the cold, that’s very nearly the best thing about it. The absolute best thing, of course, is the flowers. My list is heavily weighted towards the “pretty floral” fragrance category, and it’s also heavily weighted towards niche, and expensive. Sorry, it just worked out that way. Hopefully, my fellow bloggers did a better job on the diversity front: see Bois de Jasmin, Grain de Musc, Perfume Posse and Perfume Smellin’ Things for more top 10 lists. Meantime, here’s mine:
CB I Hate Perfume Black March: the smell of spring, and the perfect thing to wear on a warm, rainy April day, although there’s something about it that can tend towards the melancholy. If you can’t afford it, you can make do with Demeter Dirt — someone called Black March the high def version of Dirt, and that’s apt…
Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums ~ shopping for perfume in New York City
Stepping into the Frédéric Malle Editions de Parfums boutique, you might think that you’ve mistakenly opened the door to a Madison Avenue living room or an upscale art gallery, rather than a retail venue. The carpeted space is punctuated by a French Art Deco desk and armchairs, wood carvings from Africa, a drawing by Picasso, contemporary landscape paintings, and a framed photograph of the writer Charles Baudelaire. Sage-green velvet drapes soften the corners of the room, and folding wooden panels screen off the view and the noise of the street beyond the windows.
After a moment, however, you’ll notice all the signature elements of the Editions de Parfums style. Instead of bookcases filled with first editions, there are shelves of richly scented products arranged by “title.” The wall above the fireplace is hung with photographs of the fragrances’ perfumers, and a sleek, refrigerated cabinet stores and displays the eighteen fragrances in the Editions de Parfums collection…
The chicken or the egg
Perfumers owe their increasingly high profile to Frédéric Malle, whose nine-year-old luxury company, Editions de Parfum, was the first to celebrate perfumers by name. The black label on each bottle identifies the perfumer, like an author’s name on a book jacket.
— From Now Smell This, and See Its Maker at the New York Times.
...the most notable trend in the industry right now comes from the growth in niche products. Fragrance is a sociological phenomenon. On the one hand, perfume is a commodity, dominated by global brands and fashion houses, but on the other hand we're in a new golden age of perfume, driven by artisans who seek to create experiences rather than brands.
— Michael Edwards, quoted in Fragrances of the World 2010 at Cosmetic World.
What do you think — do perfumers owe their increasingly high profile to Frédéric Malle? And is this "golden age of perfume" driven by artisans? Because in both cases I would have said it's all driven by consumers, and more specifically, by perfume-related consumer activity on the internets: the blogs, the fragrance forums, what have you.