Friday, June 12, 2009

Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles and Fourreau Noir: new fragrances

Official information has finally become available concerning the upcoming releases by Serge Lutens, the artistic director who changed the face of niche with his epoch-making line of fragrances for Shiseido and his own label under Shiseido's wing, Parfums Serge Lutens.

The two new fragrances will join the illustrious line this autumn, per Osmoz very soon. The latest information wants Fille en Aiguilles to launch 1st of July and Fourreau Noir on 1st September 2009.
Fourreau Noir will be exclusive to Les Salons du Palais Royal in Paris (75 ml, 110 €) in the familiar bell-jars that stack up on the purple and black shelves. After the floral intermezzo of Nuit de Cellophane [click for review] Lutens returns to a decidedly Lutensian composition: somber yet sensuous, revealing notes of tonka bean and lavender, with musk, almond and lightly smoky accents. The composition of Fourreau Noir is dark, silky and deep and ties with the darker heroines which have so inspired Serge Lutens in the past. After Serge Noire [click for review] which was inspired by the black serge material which has been used for clothing for so long, now comes Fourreau Noir: It means "black seath", but also the petticoat garment that was used to make dresses with lower-body volume stay crisp, as staying even today in fashion parlance "en fourreau pleats". The allusion to timelessness is evident and one could liken it to perfume companies' desire to present a hint to the classicism of their compositions not destined to be ephemera (although Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire was nothing but!)

Fille en Aiguilles (girl on needles/on pins, a wordplay also on theFrench idiom "de fil en aiguille", ie. one thing leading to another) will be available in the export oblong bottles with a black label, signifying haute concentration (like the rest of the black label line compared to the beige label which are regular Eau de Parfum concentration). It will be sold in the usual suspects who carry Serge Lutens export bottles. (50 ml, 95 €) The fragrance humourously plays upon connotations of aiguilles which means needles in French, denoting either the character &mood of said fille or the pine needles which seem to be hiding in the core of the composition. Fille en Aiguilles will blend notes of vetiver, incense, fruits, pine needles and spices in a luminous woody oriental formula. Despite the name Fille en Aiguilles is easily lent to masculine wearing, an idea which is very simpatico to Serge Lutens who pioneered the concept of shared fragrances in the niche sector.

Adding: A full review of Fille en Aiguilles has been uploaded now here. A full review of Fourreau Noir has been uploaded now on this link.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Serge Lutens news and reviews

Notes info and pic via Osmoz, Rita Haywroth in Gilda via paristreatyredux.blogspot.com.

18 comments:

  1. Hello, E. Thanks for reporting on these upcoming releases. I'm looking forward to sampling both of them! With respect to Fourreau Noir, I'm curious to see how tonka bean and lavender will play out, given that they are part of the classic fougère accord (lavender + coumarin). I like the idea of "somber yet sensuous."

    As for Fille en Aiguilles, the combination of vetiver, incense, fruits, pine needles, and spices sounds like just my thing. But, as I've learned from experience, I'll have to wait until I can actually smell these before unleashing the lemmings.

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  2. Hi E, long time no hear, hope you are well! I'm looking forward to smell these new Lutens.

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  3. Alexandra15:29

    Fille en Aiguilles sounds interesting with fruits, spices and incense (hope it`s dense). Again me talking abouth prices...higher and higher..
    I`ve bought FdB Shiseido last year in Greece for 47euros and how much more it cost now in Lutens line..and weaker. Makes me crasy.
    Any news about something new from Parfum d`Empire?

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  4. Fille en Aiguilles sounds good to me but... no, I don't need yet another fragrance.

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  5. E., thx for this scoop, you made my day! Serge Lutens talent, humor and output constantly amaze me unlike perfumers like Frederic Malle and other niche perfumers who are in a creative slump.
    Looking forward to trying the enigmatic Fourreau Noir and the playful Fille en Aiguilles.

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  6. E., thx for this scoop, you made my day! Serge Lutens talent, humor and output constantly amaze me unlike perfumers like Frederic Malle and other niche perfumers who are in a creative slump.
    Looking forward to trying the enigmatic Fourreau Noir and the playful Fille en Aiguilles.

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  7. Hi J! Hope you're well.

    You're welcome! I think most of us are always eager to at least sample the upcoming Lutenses, no matter what they are.
    In re: to FN, obviously fougere is the first thought if one thinks those two components; but not necessarily in my opinion, since the other notes recall more orientalised compositions (almond especially, evoking gourmand tendencies). Especially in regards to FenA being/seeming to be the more unisex of the two, according to the info. We will see about all that I guess!

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  8. L,

    hi darling! Should mail you, Have been quite busy, this period always is.

    They are enticing, although the proof should be in the sampling.

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  9. A,

    it sounds interesting and the oriental fruits is a category that SL and CS do well. (hoping for an El Attarine treatment).

    Yup, the old FdB was reasonably priced for EDP although it's been raised a bit since. I was lucky to stock up in time. The price increases are horrible across the board though.

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  10. L,

    I know...we need yet another one like we need a hole in the head. But although I must have myriads SL frags, I'm always compelled to try out the latest. (I'm weak...weak I tell you!)

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  11. SJAdM,

    thank you, the French Osmoz is to be credited for notes, I translated those and added a little commentary of my own.

    SL's humour is what keeps me in the line too, I think he doesn't really care if something is PC or not, nor if it "sounds" a certain way, although obviously he's not beyond securing sales (but his exclusive concept accounts for fueling the desire anyway). Both of these seem to have elements of things already in the line (Gris Clair, Encens et Lavande, Vetiver Oriental et al...) yet somehow given a twist, accounting for something different. I'm eager to trying them out.

    As to other niche lines, they do seem to have something of a "let's do one iris, one leather, one incense etc" mentality, which becomes a little tired after a while. Despite that, I have higher regard for the Malle line than you, maybe, although I don't like all of them nor do I put them all on a par ~some are quite interesting though.

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  12. They both sound intriguing, although it seems that Fourreau Noir might be more to my taste. I hope the wait until I get to try them will be worth it. :) Though I suspect it will...

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  13. Somehow I think FN would be easier, compared to FeA notes, although who knows? SL has a way t surprise us! I am eagerly awaiting for them as well. :-)

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  14. Both sound intriguing, indeed! Fully agree! But the latter (F en A) sounds like a FdB on pines, woah!!! That could totally fit my tastes in autumn! Looking forward!!
    Greetings and filia
    lillie

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  15. They do, don't they!
    I admit that I wouldn't want Feminite du Bois too tampered with (the reformulation is already a little saddening), but another spin on the idea does sound intriguing. I wonder how much the pine would surface over the other elements, it seems to be the "visual" part of the fragrance at any rate judging by the bottle ad and the wordplay of the name.

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  16. Wow, another two... And I still haven't sampled El Attarine to decide if I need it :o)

    They both sound to be really interesting fragrances - Lutens at his best...

    Lavender and Tonka Beans on a smoky underground? Would it be as intoxicating as Gris Clair?

    Vetiver and incense with fruits, spice and fir needles - sounds appealing.

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  17. Many thanks for this post: what joy! After "Nuit de Cellophane", which, like most florals, did not agree with my skin at all, here are two more Lutens to add to my collection, methinks! ^_^

    As to the word plays at work here, may I add that the name of "Fille en Aiguilles" brings to mind an idiomatic French expression, "de fil en aiguille", that literally translates as "from needle to thread" (another wink to the world of couture, after the "Fourreau Noir") but effectively means as much as "one thing leading to another".
    One could take this as one more hint at the intrinsic ambiguousness of these perfumes who will not be labelled "male" or "female" and the way in which olfactory delights works in associations to create a world all of their own.

    Serge, a nouveau: merci.

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  18. Laurinha,

    thanks so much!! The Lutensian universe has so much to give still it seems. I have been surprised by the last exclusive so FN has me very much in anticipation indeed.
    They do create a world of their own, that's a lovely way to put it!

    And new info wants them to launch very soon (just edited that bit on the article), so I'm super excited!

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