Aurelien Guichard: 4 posts

Most perfumery output today can be divided roughly into the children of Angel and the children of Light Blue: Angel, as in Thierry Mugler and Light Blue, as in Dolce & Gabbana. On the fringes of the Angel and Light Blue families, you have an ever popular white floral clan that once upon a time was sultry and dark like Hermès 24 Faubourg and is now pretty and coy in the manner of Juicy Couture and Elie Saab. Issey Miyake’s Pleats Please belongs with that group, even though it speaks with a Light Blue accent and also has Angel’s patchouli. It’s a cosmopolitan perfume counter citizen.

Pleats Please was created by Aurélien Guichard, the same perfumer who interpreted peach as a decadent dessert in Bond no 9 Chinatown and made lilac modern in Gucci Guilty. The opening is a mix of juicy apple and orange. Imagine chilling apples in the fridge near the freezer compartment and then taking a bite out of the icy, crunchy fruit.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

When you think of Robert Piguet, Fracas is the first fragrance that comes to mind. This lush, narcotic, aggressive tuberose is certainly polarizing, but it is memorable and unique. When I heard that the new fragrance Douglas Hannant de Robert Piguet is going to be a modern white floral take, I imagined a composition that would be pink organza to Fracas’s dark purple velvet. At the same time, I always get suspicious whenever a fragrance is described as modern, clean and fresh as well as possessing “good taste, true luxury, … and timeless beauty.” In a sense, my expectations of Douglas Hannant were fulfilled—it is a fresh modern floral, nicely made, but without anything particularly dramatic or memorable about it.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Although Fracas and Bandit are the fragrances most firmly linked with Robert Piguet’s name, the perfumes credited to this house include a range of other memorably named creations: Calypso, Hirondelle, Mimo, Cattleya, Futur. Visa was created in 1947, its seductive and voluptuous form contrasting markedly with the restrained elegance of other fragrances launched during the same year – Christian Dior Miss Dior, Caron Farnesiana, Balenciaga Le Dix. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

The decisions of fragrance houses to reach into their archives tend to elicit mixed feelings in me. While getting a whiff of a 1920s boudoir or a 1950s cocktail party seems like an intriguing proposition, the past cannot be resurrected in all of its complex and intricate detail. The reissued fragrances would inevitably differ from their predecessors either due to commercial (change in tastes) or practical (disappearance of raw materials) considerations. At worst, the juice in the bottle would have little to do with the fragrance that supposedly inspired it. Thankfully, the recent reorchestration of Baghari respects the Robert Piguet tradition, resulting in a fragrance that combines modern radiance with neoclassical softness.

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