Serge Lutens Boxeuses & Bas de Soie: new fragrances

The brand which cemented the notion of niche in our minds, Serge Lutens, is coming up with two new fragrances due to launch soon: ‘Boxeuses’ and ‘Bas de soie’.

Boxeuses (pronounced box-EZh) is the Paris exclusive edition that plays on notes of leather and skin. The name means "women boxers" (as in athletes of box), so what else but the taut skin of boxing gloves and the glistening vision of copious amount of skin on display could it evoke?

Of course there is already a leather fragrance in the Lutens portfolio, the orientalised floral-accented Cuir Mauresque and a softer suede-jasmine in Sarrasins, but Boxeuses promises to be more suave, softer, with facets of prunes and licorice evoking gourmand delights, juxtaposed to the dry and smoky notes of a traditional leather; and amidst all that a rich woody note recalling oudh! Boxeuses launches in September 2010, 110 euros for 75 ml.

Bas de Soie (pronounced BA-de-SWAH) is destined for the export line that gets distributed to the US and is continuing on the playful theme of baptizing fragrances with tactile, fabric-reminiscent names, as was Serge Noire and Fourreau Noir. In this case the name is erotically charged as it translates as "silk stockings". Of course from someone like Serge Lutens we wouldn't expect a literal or banal interpretation of tired clichés, which makes it all the more intriguing. I personally prefer to think of it in the terms of the silken gams of Cyd Charisse and the 1957 musical Silk Stockings in which she starred. The core of the fragrance oscillates between hyacinth, deprived of its green facets in favour of powdery touches through the synergy of precious iris. More feminine than Boxeuses but still presented as a potential unisex. Bas de Soie is launching in June 2010, 79 euros for 50 ml.

Last but not least, the limited edition Paris exclusive set for release in the export bottles at the end of 2010 will be Cuir Mauresque!
There is also a slight reworking of the labels on the bottles which you can see from the pic.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Serge Lutens news & reviews

Notes via osmoz Thanks to my special source for the heads up!
Actress Clara Bow, the 'It' girl, poses on Malibu beach, on Jan.1st 1927 in boxing gloves. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Photo of Cyd Charisse from Silk Stockings via Classic Forever