One Story For Two

One Story For Two

Jean Paul Gaultier. Essences De Parfum. It's a story of two incredibly successful fragrances - Classique and Le Mâle. It's a story of two fragrances, that in the wake of their best-seller status dare to step into something a little more sophisticated. Both with the fragrance and with the bottle. It is Belle Perfumerie and brave innovation at the same time. It is exciting! It's a Jean Paul Gaultier Story.



It’s the magic of a laboratory, inside the Jean Paul Gaultier factory in fact, where we witness the genesis of it all: a place that is deliciously functional, but miraculous too.

It’s what happens to create a perfume, a “fragrance” and its bottle, unmasked as if it was a musical… with the lab team taking the starring roles. But also the cogs of the machines at work. And the pipettes. And the test tubes. And the angled pipes. It’s the very down to earth chemistry set that’s taken a leap into dreamland. Everything that is dreary here becomes joy.

The Story of a Couple

It’s a couple created by Jean Paul Gaultier in the 1990’s who have discovered a new cachet. A couple who will never grow bored of each other. A couple who will never bore us. Fragrance’s most famous busts undergo a remix and their perfumes acquire a certain noblesse without losing an ounce of their legendary mischievous coquetterie. It’s the felicity of plenitude with none of its routine.

It’s the story of two iconic busts – not entirely immune to fashion. Silhouettes change – because this is the way of the world. Classique has a little less bust, a little more on the hips. Le Mâle has larger shoulder and a smaller waist. The angles on the bottles’ crystal reflect today’s epoch: now we spend our lives baring our multiple facettes. The copper of the cans is of a softer gold, almostcarnal.

In summary: It’s us, but better. It’s us all over!

Olfactive Story

It’s the story of the idea that when it smells this good you just want to eat the air. It’s this silly idea that we love; that we are all here to desire.

It’s Classique with chantilly. The refined sobriety that we know, but with spice - ever more addictive with its lingering jasmine Sambac and precious woods.

It’s Le Mâle with a heavy dose of citrus, and (quelle surprise!) it’s a spicy citrus that encounters the sensuality of leather, as always on a bed of precious woods.

Daphne Bugey created a Classique Essence de Parfum

She says that from the very beginning, Classique revolved around three notes: ginger (top), orange blossom (middle) and vanilla (base). A re-working the ginger was decisive in this new version. She wanted to keep the gingery, almost spicy dimension, but make it lighter, and add bite and burst.

In order to get the floral facette she wanted, she needed jasmine Sambac, that has a very particular orange note which appears as if from below. Like a surprise.

The «laboratory» idea behind this project gave her the inspiration for a scent that would succeed the challenge of being both experimental and gourmand. Without losing any of its succulence hence the vanilla and the chantilly.

She also says if it’s gourmand, it’s irresistible. And she’s right.

Quintin Bisch created a Le Mâle Essence de Parfum

He says that Le Mâle is essentially sagebrush and cardamome (on top), lavender (in the middle), and Costus vanilla for the animal base. And that from here he had to decide what to keep and what to remove. Or to change.

He started with the bottle. With the idea of undressing Le Mâle, now no longer hidden behind his sailors’ top. He saw the new body of Le Mâle, and he thought of skin, he thought of leather, he thought of «working perfume as if it were leather.» He says he wanted leather that was suede-like and soft as velour. He wanted that we could almost smell skin. For this he kept the cardamome top note, but brought in a woody aspect, something more natural. More Nature.

He was drawn towards purity. Something immediate and direct. He wanted to make “an essence with an ultra-chic soul". And he succeeded.


 

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