The ravenous fashionisla isnt just looking for skinny black pants from Rochas or an extra-large Chloé carryall; she wants a unique scent, too. Not to dis the spritz of an eau de big star or ires-chic designer, but the allure of the fragrance house-old and new-and its lovingly made parfums is quickly burgeoning. The math is ***: wear a scent from the royal-approved House of Creed or the recently lauded Bond No. 9 and you join an exclusive club, an inimitably stylish one.
Take the case of Frédéric Malle: a former fragrance consultant, he noticed most star perfumers were frustrated, their creativity stifled by the high-speed business of scent (up to 400 fragrances are launched each year). In response, he created a club with a clever twist borrowed from the publishing industry: he became an editeur, or publisher, of perfumes composed by a handful of top noses. It was my friend [shoe designer] Christian Louboutin who gave me hope, says Malle. He does what he loves and hes successful. Malle gave his noses carte blanche.
éditions Frédéric Malle was such a success that he now has three boutiques in Paris. Perfumes such as Carnal Flower, a tuberose that took perfumer Dominique Rupion two years and 700 trials to make, and the deeply ***y Musc Ravageur, by modern nose Maurice Roucel, have a cult following that makes his brand a top seller at Barneys New York. (Expect a Canadian launch in 2007.) The price for a bottle of heavenly scented TLC: up to $230 US. The high of an exclusive elixir to match your limited-edition Y-3 sneakers: priceless.
Comments image maker, artist and fellow fragrance enthusiast Serge Lutens, whose Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido boutique is the embodiment of the couture perfume sensibility: Luxury is about choosing with taste and appreciation, whether its clothes, art or anything else. People of taste respond to authenticity, which is completely unrelated to the price of the object or income levels. For more than a decade, his fragrances in the now-famous bell-shaped bottles have been sold only in Paris, so in 2000 Lutens extended his philosophy with Shiseido and launched the ParfumsBeauté line, available internationally.
Today, the niche that Lutens revived has become a full-force trend. Recent entries include the aforementioned Bond No. 9 in New York City. A collection of 26 fragrances dreamed up by French perfume expert Laurence Rahmé, it pays homage to the worlds most multifaceted city. The collection is designed as ingenious elixirs of high concentrations of eaux de parfum, which customers can choose, mix and bottle in the container of their choice, when purchased by the ounce. And its approach is experimental: the newest launch, Fire Island (New Yorks other coastal playground for the rich and devious), evokes sun-kissed skin with a large helping of musk, the most carnal note of all christian louboutin.
Established fragrance houses have taken note and are returning to a notion of couture and exclusivity as well. Witness the launch of LArt et le Matière, a series of scents introduced by Guerlain that allows top noses the freedom to experiment with an assigned note or raw material.