Couture Couture by Juicy Couture: new fragrance

The brand responsible for velour tracksuits decorating the behinds of It Girls across the USA is coming out with their third scent, after Juicy Couture and Viva La Juicy.

According to Thread.co.nz Megan Robinson: " 'New York, New York, so good they named it twice...' Perfume companies seem to be taking this advice to heart with the recent release of Ricci Ricci by Nina Ricci, and now, Couture Couture by Juicy Couture". The fact that it is a misnomer needs little pointing out, but the term couture has been used very loosely for a long time now. Perhaps Rachel Joe, celebrities' and celebrity stylist on whom the newest fragrance has been based on picks up some couture designs for her wealthy clients for formal affairs, but other than that, let's not reference the glory days of Balenciaga and Givenchy, now shall we?


Perfumer Honorine Blanc from Firmenich composed Couture squared with top notes of pink grape, orange flower and mandarin, a heart comprised of plum, honeysuckle and star jasmine, and base notes of sandalwood, amber and rich vanilla. Sounds perfectly predictable! (yet potentially pretty).

Eau de Parfum Spray 30ml $99.00 / 50ml $138.00 / 100ml $184.00 / Body Lotion 200ml $79.00 / Shower Gel 200ml $69.00. Official launch is predicted for 12 February 2010.

Valentino Perfumes Bought Out by Puig

Nina Ricci, Carolina Herrera, Paco Rabanne, Lowe, Massimo Dutti, and Prada perfume sectors will be joined by Valentino perfumes under the umbrella of Spanish Fashion & Beauty Group Puig starting 1st of February 2011. The news of the international fragrance licence obtained (which will span many years) has been just announced right when the Wall Street Journal publishes an article about Procter&Gamble putting an end to their collaboration with the Italian brand named after the famous designer.

According to the WSJ the reason has been underachievement. "P&G produces a number of fragrances for Valentino, which is owned by U.K. based private-equity fund Permira. But sales never reached the heights of P&G's other fragrance licenses, including those with Gucci Group and Dolce & Gabbana, which last year launched a makeup line.[..]P&G wants to weed out underperforming brands to focus on its more competitive products. The company has been moving into luxury beauty products, including the expansion of skin care line SK-II and its acquisition of high-end men's grooming lines such as The Art of Shaving".

Created in 1960 by Valentino Garavani, the firm operates in 70 countries through a network of 1250 points of sale, of which 66 are stand-alone boutiques. Puig is no stranger to an illustrious past either tracing their history to 1914 when they began their operations in Barcelona and currently employiong 3500 employees turning out an impressive 1000 millions of euros in 2009.

Although at the moment of the WSJ announcement there was no official statement from either the P&G or the Puig side, we have just heard from both this very morning: According to Stefano Sassi, general director at Valentino, the choice to work with Puig had to do with "their experience on the luxe sector and their attachment to quality". Mr.Sassi went on to emphasize how important he considers not only Puig's prospective aid to reach the house's goals commercially, but also to cement the notoriety of Valentino fragrances on the market's consciousness. The move aims to extend the potential of Valentino products for long-time objectives and to consolidate its brand name, while Marc Puig, CEO of the group Puig adds that the acquisition of Valentino will enrich their portfolio with "an image that communicates a fantastic potential".
The crux of the matter is that Puig is much better to Valentino than P&G, due to their more glamorous and more beauty-oriented approach. The fragrances produced are not bad either, while there have been some concerns from perfumephiles over the treatment that P&G has reserved for some of their own brands, such as Jean Patou and their diminishing line of fragrances.

This latest move can only be indicative of a greater shift happening at the luxury market right now, as we had tentatively mentioned about the commotion at LVMH the other day, what with their perfumers talking up about perfumery restrictions at last and Tony Blair posing as a strong candidate for business counseling services to them in order to open up new markets. Which those markets will be and how sustainable the luxury sector will be in them is matter for discourse.

pic of Stefano Sassi of Valentino via fashiontimes.it

Six Scents the Spa

It is between jardin des Tuileries and place Vendôme, on the rue Castiglione (Ier arr.), in Paris, that Six Scents, the niche brand of perfumes, is opening their first day spa. The move is ingrained to SLOW LIFE™ ~Sustainable - Local - Organic - Wholesome - Learning - Inspiring - Fun - Experiences~ a concept by Sonu et Eva Shivdasani, and has been introduced at the Maldives in 1995. The idea takes on the guise of an urban sanctuary for Paris with architecture Pierre David that takes into consideration the values which Six Scents stands for. Giant cocoons made of pliable wood resembling bamboo shots will host detoxifying and aromatic services meant to make the visitor unwind.

New Chanel Ad Filmed by Martin Scorcese

Apparently the film maverick is joining forces with the prestigious fashion and beauty firm for one of their upcoming commercials. Chanel has a great tradition to upkeep anyway and their latest commercials have been stellar one way or another, be it the operatically self-parodying of No.5 with Nicole Kidman by Baz Lurhman, the sophisticated Parisian burglar in Coco Mademoiselle with Keira Knightley or the romantic aboard-the-Orient-Express with Audrey Tautou filmed by Jean-Pierre Jenet for No.5 again. (No.5 being the test by fire for the brand).

Latest reportage states that "David Lynch is confirmed to have filmed an installment of Dior's string of commercials featuring ambassador Marion Cotillard in Shanghai, and now it's confirmed that as rumored, Martin Scorsese is working with Chanel. The director shut down a section of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York last Friday, and the owner of Moto, a restaurant in the area, confirmed Scorsese was filming a Chanel commercial" according to Fashionologie, who took the information from first-hand witness Jeni Avins who took some photos for Dossier (click to see the location shots). The über-hipster (and über-Chasid) Williamsburg is an unusual locale, but who knows New York better than Scorcese? (Woody Allen comes to mind, but I haven't heard of Chanel banging down on his door yet).
Chic Report adds that French actor Gaspard Ulliel (appearing at the Chanel Fall 2009 RTW show in Paris last March) and Canadian model Ingrid Schram are starring in the production as well. Scenes have also been shot underground in the midtown Manhattan subway (this theme reminds me of Berlin-set Prada's commercial to the lines of Thunder Perfect Mind by Jordan Scott, Ridley's daughter; her father incidentally has been the directot of some of the most imaginative Chanel commercials to date).

There is no indication which scent the commercial targets, although a source tells me it's about No.5 (in which case it would again involve Audrey Tautou, hot on the heels of her Mademoiselle impersonation in Coco Avant Chanel). Then again, isn't there some incosistency between the Jenet outlook and Scorcese's one? By the time it rolls out (around the end of the year, we will know).

EDIT TO ADD: As of Februrary 18th, according to WWD, the Scorcese advertisement is for the new Chanel fragrance for men! Will update with further info as it becomes available.
According to Magali Bertin from French Vogue, the fragrance is called Chanel Pour Homme. Here I'm a little stumped: Is it a new fragrance substituting the old, classic Chanel pour Homme (Chanel For Men, in the US) or does it mean it's a revamping of the classic through a new advertising? The former is rather more probable in view of perfumery restrictions. Andrea D'Avack, president of Parfum et Beauté at Chanel doesn't give any more info for now. And do bear in mind that the next Chanel according to the trademarks issued is -as we had predicted back in August 2008- called Bleu de Chanel (which might be marketed to men but is very improbable to have been budgeted for a big commercial by Scorcese).
We'll see in September when the commercial will hit our screens, I guess.

Frequent Questions: All about the Guerlain "Umbrella" Bottle

There is such a plethora of bottles designs at the historical house of Guerlain that the perfume bottle collector is spoilt for choice: With a history that can be traced back to 1828, when Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain opened his first shop on Rue de Rivoli in Paris and covering almost two centuries, Guerlain has produced over 300 fragrances and an equally impressive number of bottle designs. Out of them all some are more worthy of mention either due to their beauty or their proliferation. One of them which covers both grounds is the "umbrella bottle", thus referenced due to its elegant shape that resembles a closed umbrella pointing downwards.


The "umbrella" bottle (officially known as "flacon de sac", bottle for the purse) started its illustrious career while head perfumer was Jacques Guerlain, in 1952 and continued under his grandson's, Jean Paul Guerlain's tenure as well. Its span of production covers easily more than 2 decades, until the end of the 1970s. All the perfumes that were circulating during that time-frame in extrait de parfum (pure parfum) were encased in this famous design, with the single exception of Nahéma (1976).

Despite several sellers on auction sites and Ebay stating it as Baccarat crystal, this design is assuredly not. The official Guerlain archives state three verreries producing moulds for it:
Pochet et du Courval, Brosse and Saint-Goabin -Desjonquères, all in the quarter of an ounce size. Rarely however is there a mark of which verrerie produced the flacon style in question, contrary to some other bottle designs in the line. Early specimens of the "umbrella bottle" have been sporting the name-label directly on the flacon, while later ones have a string from which two ends unite under a hang tage with the name of the perfume. Each of the extrait presentations had a different box, reflecting the themes and colour-schemes that inspired the original fragrances as well, as depicted above. From left to right, we can see the pink and green case with the two G interwined for Chant d'd’Arômes (1962); the zebra-printed Vol de Nuit presentation, inspired by far away travels and corresponding to the Saint-Exypéry travel novella of the same name; the chequed ivory of the legendary Jicky (1889); in silver tones lies the Jean Paul Guerlain creation inspired by Chagan's novel Chamade (1969); next there is the classic lithography of L'Heure Bleue (1912) and Mitsouko (1919); the iconic Shalimar is encased
in regal purple velvet, while the aqua-toned sleek box is for Parure, a plummy chypre creation by Jean Paul from 1974.

Ebay prices for these flacons fluctuate between $75-125, depending on the condition of the bottle and label as well as the existence or not (and subsequent condition of course) of the presentation box.

Less usual versions are those including a leather-pouch such as the one depicted for Liù (1929): It was a special edition for the USA only. (The very concept of this flacon is carrying it in the purse, hence "flacon de sac" being its official name in archives, yet the ideal of luxurious travel via American airlines ~very en vogue during the 1950s and 1960s~ was the source of inspiration for several 'travelling" paraphernalia of which some specimens are truly beautiful).









Much rarer and thus highly collectible is a special edition of Vol de Nuit which is commemorating the nuptials of Prince Rainier of Monaco to Grace Kelly in 1956. The box has a lovely inscription on the inside silken panel, dedicated to the marriage of the prince and the Hollywood actress, bearing the date of the wedding as well (Monaco, 15 Avril 1956). Guerlain always knew how to romanticize their art, allowing us to dream a little...

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Guerlain series, Fragrance history, Frequent Questions

thanks to Dominique Chauvet/Milan for original photography.