Photo: Myan Soffia

I always bump into Olivia Bransbourg at those places where perfume is in the air. Whether it is at the Elements Showcase or the opening of The Art of Scent at the Museum of Art and Design we manage to find each other and talk for a bit. When I met her for the first time in January of 2012 she told me of the perfume she did, in 2009, to go along with the biennial publication of ICONOfly. The 2009 issue was dedicated to bracelets and many different artists were asked to participate in designing bracelets. Mme Bransbourg enlisted Benoit Lapouza and Christine Nagel to create a fragrance inspired bracelet. It was called Attache-Moi (Tie Me Up) and was a woody, musky, resinous blend.  The bottle was also wrapped with a leather strip which you could spray with the scent and wear as a bracelet. This past August at the Elements Showcase she and I were like ships passing in the night and she only had time to press an atomizer into my hand, give me a kiss on the cheek and dash off. Later when I pulled the sample out it had no label on it and in a subsequent e-mail she confirmed it was, indeed, the new Attache-Moi called Attache-Moi 55.

Robert Indiana "LOVE" sculpture at 6th Ave & 55th St.

The inspiration for Attache-Moi 55 is 55^th Street in New York City. Mme Bransbourg related why she finds 55^th Street special,” I love exploring new paths, choosing the road not taken. But I keep coming back to 55^th Street. I long for every minute spent there, the architecture of its buildings, the cut of their silhouettes in the sky, the people I meet, its special light.” 55^th Street is like many Midtown thoroughfares with apartment buildings at either end and in the middle; hotels, high rise office buildings and theatres. Mme Bransbourg wanted to capture the idea that depending where you are on 55^th you can potentially bump into anyone from a master of the universe to a master of their own domain. That is the magic of living in New York City. Mme Bransbourg asked Patricia Choux to be the perfumer responsible for realizing this vision.

Attache-Moi 55 could be a bespoke perfume for me as it contains many of the notes I like best in perfume. Mme Choux uses a subtly spicy citrus opening to represent the light, a trio of floral notes which capture sophistication to end in a musky and woody comfort zone.

The London NYC at 6th Ave & 55th St.

The opening of Attache-Moi 55 is mandarin and cardamom; the sweetness of the mandarin is dusted with cardamom which complements that sweetness and also adds some contrast. It is like that shadowed light as the sun finds its way around the big buildings to shine down on you standing at street level. The heart is a fabulous mix of orris, osmanthus, and jasmine. Mme Choux uses three of the most opulent florals to create a chic floral accord and by letting jasmine display a bit of indole she also lets you know there is a bit of humanity under the sophistication. Finally amber, cashmere musk, and vetiver bring you safely home to your wood paneled living room so you can look down on 55^th street and realize you are where you belong.

Attache-Moi 55 is one of those perfect fragrances for the shoulder season as the warmth of summer hasn’t quite disappeared and the real chill of autumn hasn’t taken hold. I’ve been wearing it a lot this month and it feels like the perfect companion as I stroll through Midtown Manhattan reveling in the energy surrounding me.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by ICONOfly.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

Editor’s note: Attache-Moi 55 is currently only available at Barney’s New York on Madison Avenue. It will be available in Europe later in the Fall of 2013.