I was happy to attend the final day of Elements Showcase, and although there was so much to cover, I was able to target a few houses that have been on my list for a while. At the top was Swiss brand Humiecki & Graef created by Sebastian Fischenich and Tobias Mensch. They are pushing the envelope with their concept, and with help from perfumers “Les Christophs”, namely Christoph Hornetz and Christophe Laudamiel. Here they take their shot at creating fragrances inspired by several human emotions, but I didn’t know this at first smell.

Askew, created by Laudamiel was the fragrance from the collection that left me momentarily speechless as it surrounded me with its profound clarity. Perhaps this has happened to you when you see a piece of art, or visit a certain place, or maybe while listening to a particular chord in music that somehow moves you to the point just before tears, or maybe it happens if you follow a perfumer who you admirer and begin to connect with how a body of work can evolve, ebb and flow. It is a moment in time, that is visceral and beyond words and memory.

Les Damaselles D'Avignon by Pablo Picasso (1907)

These fragrances are challenging, daring and polarizing, the kind you either love or hate, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from “Les Christophs”.  Working in contrast to the class pyramid structure for building a fragrance, they have created a unique “star-shaped” structure that allows for a more linear experience, allowing each note to separately come forth as the fragrance builds. Here Humiecki & Graef promise that we will find “cubism in a bottle.”  

Askew is inspired by the emotion of fury, this fragrance seems to looks squarely at the underbelly of that emotion, that is, it doesn’t hit me as intended or as the word is defined. Askew comes across calming after its initial hit and it gets me thinking about the color of the sea that’s been all churned up after a storm. It keeps me thinking about the sea, mineral water springs, tears, and being human. The notes that develop seem to have an affinity for each other, as if they understand how they should work together. The Grapefruit, Ginger and cool Cardamom comes out of the bottle explosive. Notes of Mimosa add a delicate floralcy that strikes me as powdery and honeyed. The floral notes nuzzle up to Marine notes that push into Leathery warmth, and finally Birch Bark Tar and Vetiver work together keeping things grounded and earthy, and a little dirty. This is one of the few fragrances with Marine notes that I have ever loved. Here these watery Marine notes are manipulated expertly, not jagged or jarring, rather round and almost creamy and push the emotion that lives in this bottle. At the tail end a sting remains the tiny fury.

–Valerie Vitale, Contributing Editor