Salander

What do Roja Dove, Sylvaine Delacourte and Gilles Thévenin have in common? Who knows the answer? That's right, Guerlain. The traditional house employs the most talented perfumers and merchants, some of whom later take the path to independence. Roja Dove and Sylvaine Delacourte put perfume on the market under their own names today, not so Gilles Thévenin. To him, however, more in a moment, let's first take a little trip back in time.

We are in the 18th century in France. Pierre-François Lubin is only 10 years old and lives with his parents not far from the Parisian studio of Jean-Louis Fargeon, with whom he is just beginning an apprenticeship. The famous perfumer awakens Pierre-François' love for fragrance essences at an early age. The boy Lubin is 18 when he leaves his patron and with him the capital, which is troubled by the revolution. He continued his education in Grasse, where he learned the "Italian method" from Tombarelli. When the political dust slowly settled, he returned to Paris and completed his knowledge with his old patron. Lubin becomes not only an excellent perfumer, but also an extremely skillful businessman. He opens his first Maison called "Au Bouquet de Roses" in Paris. Lubin expands and exports his creations - the first fragrance house ever to do so - to America. His clientele included Empress Joséphine, Napoleon's wife, the English King George IV and Tsar Alexander I. Fame, honor and fortune paved his path through life. Only one thing is not granted to him, there is no male heir, no one to take over his manufactory from the family.

Felix Prot, his former apprentice and loyal employee, continues the business. Lubin becomes a successful and professionally managed under several generations of family Plot. What then follows in the mid-twentieth century sounds extremely promising at first. Large corporations buy the fragrance manufactory, but Lubin becomes a hit neither with Henkel, nor with the 4711 manufacturer Muehlens, nor with Wella. The brand leads a shadowy existence, goes down miserably among the many beauty products.

Salvation comes in 2004, when Gilles Thévenin, who until then was the creative director at Guerlain and head of marketing at Rochas, makes a momentous decision. He literally goes to the extreme limits of his comfort zone and even beyond. He sells all his belongings. His prestigious house, his cars and his antiques soon find new owners. In his own words, he describes this time as follows: "My grandmother was crying. Then, at 45, I was alone in a room, a former servant's quarters. But I was happy. It was almost like getting married. I knew I was going to dedicate myself to this company. I want to keep the quality perfumery alive."

At the beginning, he works mainly with two well-known "noses", with Delphine Thierry and with Thomas Fontaine. Thomas is the architect and also the Indiana Jones of fragrances. He systematically assembles his creations, fragrance brick by fragrance brick, building "cathedrals". He is also the master of reformulations. Delphine Thierry takes a completely different approach, she is the poet among perfumers, conveying feelings, moods, telling stories. She is also the creator of Akkad.

Many comments and Lubin's website say that Akkad was created in reference to the Mesopotamian ruler of Akkad - Sargon. "The essence of Akkad is the gift of the beautiful Ishtar, who loved and protected me. It contains the most precious ointments of Pound and the islands of the great sea and those much farther away. This ambergris is like the light that illuminates my kingdom, the most precious treasure of my kingdom." (Quote www.lubin.eu). But this is only half the truth. The first inspiration for Akkad comes from Provance, where Delphine Thierry has lived with her family for a few years. From her house in a small village, a stone path leads to the river. As she walked along this very path one summer day, she reflected on the fact that stones do have a subtle scent. She enjoyed the scent of spices such as thyme, oregano and also that of rock roses. This "luminous area", the sweaty skin, a bath in the river at the end of a hot August day, the exuberant and happy feeling, sensuality, the sun going down were the real emotional sources for Akkad. Gilles Thévenin allowed the fantasy worlds around the later fragrance to emerge. He accompanies each fragrance development, which takes well over a year, until the creation is balanced and harmonizes with the name, bottle and story.

Please forgive me the long introduction. I am often as fascinated by the people behind the scenes as their compositions and I find their inspirations stimulating.

Thévenin already liked the first fragrance creation of Delphine Thierry very much. The link between sun, nature, stone and sensuality appealed to him. And indeed, the fleeting beauty of the top note carries the sun in the heart. This light-footed, approachable nature, the minimal citrus, the fresh herbs and the warm, sensual, slightly humanizing labdanum also take me by storm.

The mineral one guesses directly. This direction associates Gilles Thévenin with a temple. At his suggestion, the incense portion was increased in the fragrance, so that the sacred aspect is also emphasized. Through balsamic notes such as resins, styrax and benzoin and also through amber, Akkad later becomes "physically tangible".

The pyramid suggests a dark fragrance and honestly does not appeal to me at all. I was completely surprised that although Akkad "Noire" comes along, the fragrance shines amazingly bright. This ambivalence comes close to squaring the circle and gives an idea of what an extraordinary talent Delphine Thierry has.

At this point, I would write in other comments about the fact that lovers of incense fragrances absolutely must test. That all who love NU by Yves Saint Laurent and Coco or Coco Noire should go directly to the souk and acquire a bottling as soon as possible. But I don't. Because Akkad is niche perfume in the best sense of the word, craft of great emotions. Everyone should enjoy it at some point, because few fragrances have as much personality and such a natural aura as this perfume. The fact that not everyone can wear Akkad is not the deciding factor.

My conclusion: occasionally explore the boundaries of your comfort zone, because that's where the adventure begins. And also test against your preferences. In doubt for the doubt.

Sources: "The fragrance account for exciting gentlemen" - Die Zeit // "Fragrances like cathedrals" - Handelszeitung // "The fragrance renaissance" - Manager Magazin // "The eccentric of fragrances" - GEO // www.lubin.eu // Wikipedia

When Karl Lagerfeld "the Great" turned off into the entrance of the cosmetics headquarters, he already had the firm idea in his head. The renovation of the New York boutique on 57th Street was about to be finalised, and the reopening was approaching. He has also just moved his Métiers-d'art collection to the Metropolitan Museum. These events should be celebrated with a new perfume in addition to the current fashion collection. The fragrance could be called 1957. At that time Coco received the Mode Oscar, the "Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion" in America. It was the year of her comeback after the war and overseas she was still very successful for a long time. That would be a nice homage to Gabriele Chanel and the Americans. Oliver (Polge) will certainly agree. And he will certainly come up with something great that would combine the idea with a fragrance.

This is how the 17th perfume of the series "Les Exclusives" by Chanel was born.

And now, before I continue with the perfume description at this point, I would like to take a short detour.

Last year, perfume generated sales of around 40 billion dollars worldwide. Brands, manufactories, maisons and manufacturers as far as the eye can see. The attempt to test all new releases promptly gives an idea of how senselessly Sisyphos must have tried to fulfil his task.

At some point, when I took the news magazine "Der Spiegel" in my hand, a little light came on to me. Sooner or later the same topics will be discussed in all newspapers, only with a different focus and usually differentiated according to one's own political convictions. What applies to various magazines and trade journals also determines the fragrance landscape. Trends are gradually being picked up and interpreted differently by different manufacturers throughout the market. Today I don't follow every brand anymore. Etat Libre d'Orange has been stolen from me for a long time. If someone enjoys driving his olfactory ghost train laps and tarring his synapses at the same time, he is welcome to do so. I'll wait outside.

On the other hand, I like most of Guerlain and Chanel's creations very much. My expectations are disproportionately often fulfilled by the two traditional houses. Under the direction of Thierry Wasser or Olivier Polge, no "toxic" compounds are invented, but poems of molecules, a scenttaura that caresses the wearer. For me, the most beautiful olfactory encounters are feminine, creamy, powdery, floral and pure. 1957 is in my eyes a direct hit.

In the first line you will find a white musk fragrance that does what it does best in a fine manner, smelling of cleanliness, cleanliness and sensuality. Oliver Polge himself describes 1957 as follows: "Its essence, its basis is white musk from eight varieties, only comes to full bloom on the skin".

I would like to be honest, with a blind test I could only have clearly stated that this is an ethereal feminine musk scent. Besides, I only noticed the similarity with two other fixed sizes. The fragrance that Cacharel has made successful with Noa and White Suede refined with leather is varied by the perfumer with soft tones of Jacques Polges beige.

In 1957, Oliver Polge created a wonderful understatement fragrance in the tradition of his father and according to Coco Chanel's motto: "I want a perfume for women that smells like a woman" Hand on your heart, don't we all want that?

(Source: WELT - "Not Paris, but America celebrated Coco Chanel back then")

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Heidemarie Jiline Sander who was born on a cold November day in 1943 in Hedwigenkoog at the North Sea. No one suspected that this cute, delicate blonde creature would one day turn the fashion world upside down.

Even as a toddler she had a great affinity for trousers, mind you, at a time when girls wore "obligatory" dresses. Aesthetics played an increasingly important role in her life. After starting her career at various fashion magazines, someone noticed that during photo shoots she explained to manufacturers how she imagined the clothes to be so that she could have them photographed more easily for magazines. The fibre company Trevira then asked if she would like to design a collection. This was the beginning of her career as a fashion designer. She soon became self-employed and in 1968 opened her now legendary fashion boutique in Hamburg's Milky Way. She was extremely creative, precise, changed structures, experimented with high-tech fabrics that did not crease, did not scratch, were lighter. In 1975 the first Jil Sander show was held in Paris. The cool parts defined a new "clean chic" line, irritated the audience, but were cheered by many at the same time. Innovation does not usually happen overnight. The architectural aesthetics of Jil Sander were simply many years ahead of their time.In 1976, they made their international breakthrough with the so-called onion look, which consisted of many individual parts that could be combined with each other and was made of high-quality materials.

Three years later, Jil Sander expanded its product range with Lancaster, adding the fragrance and care line Jil Sander Woman Pure. This was followed by several fragrances that made perfume history and found many lovers, such as Sun, No. 4 but also Bad & Beauty.

Bath & Beauty was actually a series that included Cream Bath, Shower Balm, Beauty Soap and Body Milk. None of these I bought or tested at that time. I was much too young, I didn't feel addressed by her delicate blonde portrait in the advertisement, nor did I belong to your target group of wealthy women, confident and in the middle of life, often on business. But at some point I got to know and love Sun, Scent 79, Sensations, Jil and Style. The world of Jil Sander seemed interesting to me and I blindly bought a vintage bottle of Bath & Beauty Eau de Toilette last year.

A picture says more than a thousand words, and so does a fragrance. All the descriptions, the scents only vaguely conveyed to me what would await me. Because for me this fragrance is a study of No. 4, which was launched years later, or rather a much lighter, more playful version. The two "sisters" are not twins but where - although absolutely present - a bath & beauty foaming purity and bathing fun comes into play, No. 4 is a self-confident woman in a trouser suit. In the prelude, Jil Sander makes the aldehydes dance, which makes Bath & Beauty appear androgynous at the first moment. I can see ginger (not listed) afterwards, coriander, moderate honey, some tart and pleasant flowers "sweetened" by Ylang-Ylang, tamed by Iris. B&B is not a classic clean scent, but a freshly bathed feeling envelops me, which lasts for hours.

Discreetly I usually define completely different fragrances, but there is something reserved about Bath & Beauty. I often take a few sprays if I just want to perfume myself. It's strong, not in the sense of sillage, rather the fragrance has a certain attitude. Feminine doesn't always have to be sexy, after all. Radiance, character and appearance make up much more of our femininity. A self-confident, independent, modern woman can, or rather could, perfectly stage Bad & Beauty. And vice versa. This will also be the reason why many of Jil Sander's clients still long for this aura today.

But as Confucius said 500 years before Christ in a completely different context already very aptly: "Shining days. Do not cry that they pass. Smile that they have been".

(References: World - Iconist: "Fashion does not have the same status as before"// Wikipedia - Jil Sander // BR Television - "My Life" // Exhibition "Present" - Frankfurt)