Nathalie Feisthauer / Christoph Hornetz / Jane Hendler / Isabelle Michaud ~ Scent Treks through Time by Marian Bendeth, 09 August 2008 Editor's note: These interviews are the tenth part of a series in which Marian Bendeth explores what a panel of modern perfumers would say if they could travel back to the time of their choosing, to meet, chat and co-create with a perfumer of the past. An introduction to the series and table of contents is here.
Nathalie Feisthauer Senior Perfumer, Symrise Creations: Innocent Rock by Mugler; Etat Libre d’Orange: Putain des Palaces and Delicious Closet Queen; Di Romeo Gigli; Eau des Merveilles; Kouros Tatoo Energizing; Guerrilla 2 by Commes des Garcons (more...) Marian Bendeth: If it was possible to travel back in time to any particular century and decade of your choice to meet your number one inspirational Perfumer: When would that be? Please state century and decade Nathalie Feisthauer: I chose to talk about the late eighties and nineties in the United States. MB: Who would that be? NF: Sophia Grojsman at IFF and Anne Gottleib Before this time, the Europeans, not to say the just French fragrance industry were clearly dominating the creation process and had almost all the most beautiful brands. The only real big exception was Estee Lauder and it's early collaboration with IFF. It was then, for the first time, that I sensed that the creativity shift geographically and came from the new world. For me, there were two main powerhouses, Sophia Grojsman and Ann Gottlieb both based in NYC. Together, they united their work, talent, techniques and tastes to open new roads in perfumery. Their work involved new aesthetics, new ways to write a formula, new ways to diffuse and therefore to "read" a fragrance at a beauty bar. At this time, the French were proposing a long fresh top note for a perfumer to take the time to know what really smells like a perfume after a while based on the base notes. The Americans understood that you only have 30 seconds to pick your fragrances (and most importantly to buy!!) so you better have the message to send about the style and notes right away! I was at this time a young perfumer (25 in 1990!) i was sent there for four years, and I thought I had come from the best country, the best company to learn the "know how" of perfumes, so maybe i was a little like the the French
stereotype, a little bit arrogant , obnoxious. But I was still there to learn and in a way, i was lucky, since I felt that something huge was happening. For the first time creativity and newness came from the Americans and more specifically, from Sophia's perfumery which was a new way to work for me; to know as a true consultant (which didn't exist in France and not to mention the real credibility of American brands like Calvin Klein, Estee Lauder etc). I only met Sophia once during an honorary lunch for her organized by the CEW. Sophia is a colorful outspoken unique singular woman, she is herself! I think that she didn't create fine fragrances right away, she did softer toiletries; maybe that part was a big help for her technique since she mastered the diffusivity like no other. One of her very early wins was White Linen and in this. you can read the skeletons, the roots of a lot of her majors future wins like Paris, Eternity, Tresor, Realities, Exclamation... and so many others that bear her signature and yet don 't look alike! For me she mastered a technique, choosing very few raw materials (most of the time always the same) but to achieve always very unique signature notes . Why I admire Sophia (few perfumers actualy have this ability ) is that she has a signature style.
MB: What specific questions would you want to ask them? NF:My question to her is did she have a theory about why she included these materials and not others? for technical reasons, only because she knew she would super diffuse therefore helping to create an identity? For me she opens new ways to formulate, she was certainly most copied in her time. Her influence even crossed the ocean as her best sellers Tresor and Paris developed perfumes are her. They prove that both her (and Ann Gottlieb’s) style tastes and techniques were the first to cross the ocean to France. So yes for me, Sophia is one of the legend of perfumery, of course i'll have tons of questions to ask her , If she ever comes to Paris, I would love to share a (Russian) tea with her! and yes it would be great to use her mastery and think of what could be done to be the new 10' fragrance!!
MB: If you could team up together in that time period, who would you like to co-create a fragrance for? NF: I think both ladies represent the new world (the US) for bad and good, totally good with their sense of no limitations; new roads to explore (which they did at the time!) and...I would love to bring them down a new path, something "dirty" really sensual. I would create THE new definition of sensual oriental or real sexy!! ...and not "sexy clean" For me they also brought something to the perfume industry that (for us French!!) was fairly new; that is that perfume ISN'T sexy, that it was clear TRANSPARENT clean. It was quite unheard of at the time, in a way, it turned perfume into something very easy to wear , day , night, sportswear. Compared to most of the big French perfumes where you could find super rich, long lasting and more traditionally blended perfumes. So yes I'm on for this adventure!!
MB: If you could bring anything back with you, what would that be? Pretty much we could steal all the materials from that period. At that time, there were maybe a lot less IFRA RIFM and others regulations that allowed perfumers to create more freely. Now some accords cannot simply be used anymore, some I totally agree with. In some cases, we need to be carefull and take care of the planet. I’m all for it!! ....but sometimes it is ridiculous when you cannot even use small amount of rose for example (because of it s methyl eugenol contents!!) or orange oil because of other ingredients of which there is plenty in orange juice!! so yes sometimes it is great to look at this time with no boudaries!
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www.symrise.com
Christoph Hornetz Perfumer, IFF / Les Christophs’ Creations: Thierry Mugler Coffret for Perfume, the story of a Murderer Marian Bendeth: If it was possible to travel back in time to any particular century and decade of your choice to meet your number one inspirational Perfumer: When would that be? Please state century and decade Hornetz: Back to the future IV ! MB: Who would you meet? Not only did the 1980’s bring a great variety of movies to the world, but this decade also gave birth to several groundbreaking perfumes; one of them is Davidoff’s Cool Water for men, created by one of the most talented perfumers on this planet – Pierre Bourdon. So instead of traveling back in time, I would like to invite Mr Bourdon on a trip to the future. It would be a great honor to explore so far untouched fields in perfumery with my number one inspirational perfumer who incorporates qualities such as an incredible sense of humor, a broad knowledge of literature and poetry, an eye and a nose for beauty and esthetics and some kind of a revolutionary nature. Creating fragrances would be the mission of course; but not for fashion brands or celebrities but for new disciplines where fragrances are considered as important as audio and visuals. What we would bring back from the future; I think it would be this terrific air-happy-maker in our time machine – a great alternative to the “Wunderbaum“ by the way! • •
www.leschristophs.com www.iff.com
Jane Hendler Ajne Perfumes Creations: Citron Regnerez – Liquid Sunshine, Desir, Lakshme, Fleur Blanche-White Flower, Joy of Motherhood, Maternity Rose (more...) My love of natural plant distillates would certainly take me back to a person and a time prior to the mid 19th century when using these materials was the practice of the day. I thought long and hard on this topic and chose a French author/perfumer that
has inspired me greatly because of his fundamental teachings. G.W. Septimus Piesse, authored the perfumic masterpiece called "The Art of Perfumery”. His writings are the very foundation of perfumery covering the history of scent, formulas and elaborate scent descriptions of the oils. He is also credited for the creation of the ‘odaphone’ which is a scent scale, based on a musical scale - which he used to decipher the strength of scent. This scale broke scents / essential oils down into 3 categories – top, middle (heart) and base notes which today is still the foundation for perfumery classification. I would just love to be more of a fly on the wall and watch his analysis of the plants and scents. What was his method for the creation of his blends especially when attempting to mimic a natural that cannot be distilled. I would want to bring back his notes, formulas and his actual blends. I would love to smell the pure plant material / essential oil of the time. •
www.ajne.com
Isabelle Michaud Perfumer, MonSillage - Bespoke Perfumer and Graduate of the ISIPCA During a recent visit to the sewers in Paris, I bought a book entitled « Le miasme et la jonquille » by Alain Corbin, which retraces the evolution of scent perception at the end of the 18th century through to the mid 19th century. I was amazed at the intricate scientific experiments that were conducted at that period to try and understand smell and elaborate theories around it. As was referenced in the book, the scent trends throughout that period were closely linked to the beliefs of that period. And as time went by, certain patterns and cycles would be observed. The animalic, ambery and musky scents that were first lauded for their ability to attract and seduce slowly were rejected in favour of more breezy, vegetative and floral scents, which were linked to better hygiene, thought to be curative and went hand in hand with a more intellectual/subtle approach to seduction. Then came the French Revolution with its battles, blood baths, victories and emancipation, which marked the return of opulent and animalic notes, and more intricate perfumes associated to modern perfumery. Even today, the oscillating trends between animalic/opulent and light/floral perfumes (with lots of new twists and turns of course) still remain and can offer some insight into the values and issues of our times. Although not a perfumer, I would have loved to take part in the experiments conducted by Jean-Noël Hallé, doctor of medicine and father of modern hygiene in France, who worked towards scientifically tracing the origins of scents (good or bad) to better understand them. A bit later on, I would have loved to meet with Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain and be a witness to the rapid evolution of the perfume business at that moment. MB: What specific questions would you want to ask? What is your perception of scent ? How has it evolved during your lifetime ? What are your views on women and how they should smell ?
MB: If you could team up together in that time period, who would you like to co-create a fragrance for? A bride-to-be and a prostitute. It would be interesting to share our views on sensuality, seduction, innocence and youthfulness. MB: If you could bring anything back with you, what would that be? A pair of perfumed leather gloves worn by the aristocracy.
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