Passport to Paris Exhibit at Denver Art and Musuem
Experience Belle Epoque Paris and the 19th Century French countryside through the senses of sight and smell. Inspired by images in Denver Art Musuem’s “Passport to Paris exhibit (October 27, 2013-February 9, 2014) as well as perfumery innovations and trends of the late 19th Century, DSH has created three aroma art perfumes that breathe new life into a by-gone era. Each fragrant design embodies a modern twist on perfume aesthetics of the period: an aldehydic-gourmand, the violet floral and a love child of the orientalist movement and the fad of fougere.
“I haven't been as excited about new fragrances for awhile. I am in love with the later part of 19th Century France, in both the visual arts and in the world of perfumery”, says Dawn Spencer Hurwitz. “It was truly exciting to express these images in fragrant form as well as to give the perfumes a more modern cachet so that they would appeal to our 21st century sensibilities while giving the wearer a feel for the past”.
Amouse Bouche is a succulent strawberry gourmand perfume layered within an aldehydic floriental design. Synthetic aldehydes were being developed and used during the late 19th century as they added a note of modernity but also folly to the “new” perfume style. Inspired by Toulouse-Lautrec’s “The Dunce’s Cap”, ca. 1888-90, Amouse Bouche is warm, delightful, filled with fun scent that begins with the strawberry aldehyde, takes you through a classical floral heart to finish with rich wood and buttery brioche.
Vers la Violette takes one of the most important perfumes of the late 19th Century, violets (mainly worn by women), and fashions it into a more modern, 21st century gender-bending design that utilizes the molecule ionone. Drawing inspiration from Hippolyte Petitjean’s “Village”, 1893, Vers La Violette starts with a fresh green opening and dries down into a subtle sueded leather, all the while it is clearly violet.
Passport a` Paris is my fragrant ode to two perfume greats of Paris, Jicky and Fougere Royale, circa 1885. Inspired by Claude Monet’s “The Beach at Trouville”, this universal perfume could be worn by both men and women on their holiday as well as about town. Passport a` Paris utilizes aroma molecules vanillin and coumarin. considered quite modern at the time. Hints of eau de cologne mix with the vanilla and hay notes to end in a rich animalic drydown.
The Passport to Paris Collection is the sixth collaboration with Denver Art Museum and DSH. In our experience, these fragrant collections result in some of Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's most memorable work. Last year, Dawn's YSL Retrospective collection was one of Mark Behnke's top twenty five fragrances of 2012. The fragrances will be available for sale within the next week on the DSH Perfumes website.
via Dawn Spencer Hurwitz
–Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief