Announcement: I have an opening in the workshop/seminar on Japanese Incense.
Location: Online, Zoom
Date: July 14th, Sunday 12:00pm-1:30pm EST/6:00pm-7:30pm CET
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In his marvelous essay Why Read the Classics? Italo Calvino offers 14 definitions of what makes a classic piece of literature. Reflecting on his list, I thought how easily its ideas could also be applied to perfumery. The same notions of the inexhaustible sense of discovery, timelessness, and “imprints on our imagination” also define a classic scent, be it Guerlain Shalimar or Chanel No 5. It was Calvino’s 13th point, however, that struck a chord. “A classic is a work which relegates the noise of the present to a background hum, which at the same time the classics cannot exist without,” he says. They’re rooted in the present even as they transcend it.
Inspired by Calvino, I decided to draw up a personal list of perfume classics, creations that reflect their moment and yet have timeless relevance. The first I selected was Serge Lutens’ Féminité du Bois, a fragrance conceived by the artist and photographer for Japanese brand Shiseido in 1992. Lutens wanted a perfume based on the Atlas cedarwood, and he sought to convey the softness of the ingredient that beguiled him ever since he came to Morocco in the 1960s. Initially when Lutens talked to the perfumers about his idea, he encountered a lack of comprehension. Cedarwood was traditionally treated as a sharp, masculine note and few fragrance professionals understood how to reinterpret it in a different guise.
It was the brilliant partnership between Lutens and perfumers Pierre Bourdon and Christopher Sheldrake that made Féminité du Bois possible. Bourdon and Sheldrake created a simple but ingenious accord of Moroccan cedar embellished with spice and amber. They turned woods into silk and richness into radiance.
For Lutens, perfume is “a combination of reality and imagination,” and Féminité du Bois illustrates his philosophy. It evokes distinctive images, but it’s a fantasy. It smells of cedarwood shavings tossed with violet petals, crushed cardamom pods and warm amber, but also of antique shops, labyrinthine souks and dry desert air. Depending on my mood – or perhaps, depending on the perfume’s inclination to reveal itself – I keep finding new facets in Féminité du Bois. Sometimes it feels austere and refined, sometimes baroque and opulent.
Since Lutens, Bourdon and Sheldrake released their genie out of the bottle, the idea of “feminine woods” has become much more acceptable. Féminité du Bois’ inflection can be found in the violet cedars of Estée Lauder Sensuous and Tom Ford Plum Japonais. Parfums DelRae Bois de Paradis with its layers of woods, roses and figs is ornate. Comme des Garçons 2, by contrast, is edgy; inspired by Japanese ink paintings, it pairs the crisp freshness of mandarin and aldehydes with the smoky darkness of cedar, patchouli and vetiver.
Eventually Lutens created his own perfume house, and Sheldrake designed a whole wood-inspired collection, Les Eaux Boisées, that includes such elegant compositions as Bois de Violette, Bois et Musc, Bois Oriental, Bois et Fruits, and Santal de Mysore. Féminité du Bois stands apart however. Available today as part of Lutens’ own line, is a classic that, to quote Calvino, “has never exhausted all it has to say.”
In your opinion, what current perfume can become a classic?
13 Comments
Melanie: I liked reading this post very much. It reminded me to wear Sensuous. I never knew that it was related to FdB! On my skin, this scent was leaning towards a pretty strong violet and plum, and it was woody in a way I found pleasant. July 12, 2024 at 10:47am
Julie: I love 💗 Calvino and the classic perfumes you noted. I would include
Acqua di Gio Giorgio Armani men,
Can not find women’s.
For some reason, the one for women has been discontinued?????????
Where could I source old stock. I had to get creative and use my husbands which is sharper. July 12, 2024 at 12:20pm
Aire: The Merveilles series by Hermes, Terre d’ Hermes, Cartier La Panthere, Allure by Chanel, perhaps Mon Guerlain, Ormonde Jayne Woman, Amouage Lyric Man.
Great topic – I look forward to reading other people’s opinions. July 12, 2024 at 1:36pm
Amalia: I also vote for The Merveilles series by Hermes! As for Féminité by Shiseido, it was the first perfumes I bought, with my first earned money, being very young. For some strange reason, I remember wearing it before 1992, but I’m wrong, since it was released in 1992. Great, clean, transparent, it “wrote” itself into my soul. I never forgot it. I haven’t had a chance to smell or own the one, from its maker. July 16, 2024 at 3:49am
Fazal Cheema: I will be honest. I think it is really hard to predict a classic because it is tough separating a fad from a timeless classic. I would be tempted to say Santal 33, BR540, and Ganymede may become classics but I also think that it is harder to produce classics now than in the past, given how numerous new releases are and how quickly the trends get replaced now as compared to the past. Your grandma and mom could be expected to be faithful to the same fragrance for years and even decades but how likely is that now? not just because there are so many options but also because formula changes and discontinuations are the new reality. It is ironic that despite many more releases, current eras may produce fewer classics than the past. July 12, 2024 at 2:13pm
Fazal Cheema: ***hard to predict a classic because it is tough differentiating a fad from an enduring trend in any given moment. July 12, 2024 at 2:17pm
Emily: Carnal Flower is I think an undeniable 21st C classic. Captured its moment but has also transcended it. July 12, 2024 at 3:40pm
Maureen: Yep I’m with you on Carnal Flower July 15, 2024 at 10:23am
Tamasin: Ormonde Woman/Man July 13, 2024 at 6:34am
MaureenC: I’m also in complete agreement with Ormonde Jayne July 15, 2024 at 11:07am
Johaboha: Narciso rodriguez for her edt, un jardin sur le nil both capture their time and are timeless in my opinion July 13, 2024 at 2:24pm
John Luna: I really enjoyed this article and loved the Calvino quote — I’ve been thinking about it off and on for a couple of days now. I agree with Aire that Terre d’Hermès could be considered a modern classic, and expect that I would also think this of Encre Noire (the ‘homme’ version, though my wife has long since walked off with the bottle I bought.) I agree with Johaboha about Narciso for Her too. I might be biased by the fact that my wife wears these, but I’m inclined to throw in Diptyque Philosykos and Le Labo Rose 31 as well. Is Glossier You too cheap and cheerful to make this list? I know a number of tasteful women who wear it, if not as a signature, certainly as a staple. July 13, 2024 at 6:53pm
Nefertari: I think that many of the perfumes that Shiseido has released qualify as classics. Besides Féminité du Bois, I would like to nominate Nombre Noir, Saso, Murasaki. But for me, my favorite is Suzuro. July 23, 2024 at 12:00pm