Culture: 426 posts

Continue reading →

Photographer, artist, visionaire… The name of Serge Lutens evokes both his beautiful photographs that recall the Japanese woodblock prints and his perfumes that reinvented the concept of luxury and art in perfumery. Born in Lille, Serge Lutens found himself moved by Morocco in 1968 and Japan in 1970. His collaboration with Shiseido in 1981 resulted with the launch of enigmatic Nombre Noir. In 1992, Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido were born in order to provide a setting for Serge Lutens’ rich collection of olfactory art.

It is my pleasure to bring you an interview with Serge Lutens, who kindly agreed to answer my questions about his creations, inspirations and views on perfumery and art in general.

Continue reading →

I can give you a long list of reasons why I am scent obsessed. The main one is that nothing captures better the feeling of a place than its smells. Therefore, I would like to paint an olfactory portrait of each city that made an impression on me and take you on a journey. The first city I selected for this series is the city of my birth, Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The turbulent history of the city, from its grandeur as a capital of Kyivan Rus to the post-Soviet confusion, marks every stone on its streets. The gilded domes of the numerous Orthodox churches emerge from the lush greenery of the historic city on the Right Bank, while modern high-rises crowd the Left. Burial caves for medieval ascetic monks neighbor WWII memorials. Billboards advertising Nokia cell phones crown the baroque Stalinesque buildings of the 1950s. Most of my early scent memories are connected to Kyiv, and no matter where I find myself, I only have to think of a few scents in order for all its streets, sounds and people to spring from my memory. …

Continue reading →

Below are a couple of excerpts from an interview with Serge Lutens published in Stakes & Professions in Perfumery, a compilations of essays from perfume industry professionals published by Éditions d’Assalit in 2007. For those interested in the professions available in the perfume industry, this book would prove to be useful. More than a few dozen of essays in the volume were written by various industry journalists, researchers, creative directors and perfumers like Jean-Luc Ansel, Jean-Pierre Subrenat, Frédéric Malle, Christophe Laudamiel, Patricia de Nicolai and Thierry Wasser. The introduction is written by Michael Edwards.

Continue reading →

“I have no interest in trying to reproduce nature … I want to transform it, create olfactory illusions. Perfume isn’t only about the scent of flowers. I can add molecules to make a fragrance harsh, soft, dry, fresh, bubbly, light, cool and warm,” says perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena in the LA Times article Perfume’s Master of Minimalism. The article notes various inspirations for some of Ellena’s famous creations, such as a glass of champagne served on a platter lined with fig leaves (Jardin en Mediterranée) or floral tonalities of Hermès leather (Kelly Calèche). The piece also quotes Jean Kerléo, the former head perfumer for Jean Patou and the founding president of the Osmothèque. Highly recommended reading!

Photo of Jean-Claude Ellena from Wikipedia.