I’ve mentioned how much the multi-disciplinary collaboration between perfumers and other artistic disciplines are fascinating to me. There were a number of excellent examples in 2011 and one of them was between filmmaker Brian Pera and perfumer Andy Tauer. We’ve examined these collaborations from the side of the perfumer so I thought it would be fun to hear from the other artist in the equation.
The new fragrance from Etat Libre D’Orange is inspired by both the cuisine and cinema of the islands of Southeast Asia.
Founder of Etat Libre D’Orange Etienne De Swardt tasked perfumer Ralf Schwieger with creating this fragrance, Fils de Dieu du Riz et des Agrumes (Son of God, rice, and citrus).
For the most part perfume is meant to create pleasure. When we wear our favorite fragrance it usually makes us feel good and it usually wears easy. Then there are the very few fragrances out there that try to do the opposite. They try to challenge our feelings about what fragrance should be. They also tend to make you work a bit to find your smile while wearing it. The latest release from Amouage, Library Collection Opus VI, is one of these.
At this January’s Elements Showcase they finally showed me something which did tickle my optic sweet spot. Their newest release is called Ylang In Gold and infused in the juice is 24K gold dust and pearlescent particles. If that was all there was to Ylang In Gold it would be interesting but the perfume holding all the shiny particles shines all on its own as Ylang In Gold is one of the best fragrances in the entire Parfums M. Micallef collection.
In 2007 the fragrance company Mane released a fragrance under their own imprimatur called Yu (Mandarin Chinese for rain). It was a limited edition of 500 bottles for an eye-popping $5,000. I finally was able to get a small sample of Mane Yu to try for myself. What I found was a fragrance more interesting for the pieces instead of the whole.
Senior Editor Tama Blough reviewed the first four Tommi Sooni fragrances and I am particularly fond of Tarantella although like Tama I think all of them are interesting. I wanted to talk to the creative director of Tommi Sooni, Steven Broadhurst, to find out what it’s like to create perfume Down Under.
