Lutens, Diptyque, Frapin, ELO, etc… a sneak peek of fall launches (and a draw)

My desk is groaning under bottles and samples. I’m running out of skin real estate. September is around the bend, and with it, a slew of launches, many of which were presented before the summer holidays or even as far back as March at Esxence in Milan; a few others will remain mysteries until mid-September…

Among these, one of the most eagerly expected is Serge Lutens’s gardenia, called Une Voix Noire according to information that’s been circulating for months on the internet. Launched in Paris on September 11^th, it is indeed a tribute to Billie Holiday: “Jazz, alcohol, night, and over all this, the troubling smoke of a white line of gardenia”, the invitation reads. Not speculating on a cocaine accord, but hoping the strange fruit will measure up to Tubéreuse Criminelle…

Another gardenia in the pipeline with Boutonnière from Arquiste, in my opinion one of the very best new niche houses, which will be presented in Florence at Pitti Fragranze. According to brand founder Carlos Huber, the initial inspiration for the scent was the wee hours after a night out, but since that turned out to be too feral to his nose, he went back to the early evening…  The historical setting is 1899 at the Paris Opera and in the preview press release, is attributed to “M. de Phocas”, not a perfumer but the name of a jewelry brand for gentlemen created by two young Mexican designers, Alexis Zambrano and Jesus Torres, and named after Monsieur de Phocas, the decadent dandy protagonist of an eponymous novel published by the equally decadent Jean Lorrain in 1901.

In the same, early-20^th century decadent register, État Libre d’Orange’s new Afternoon of a Faun by Ralph Schwieger is, obviously, a tribute to Nijinsky, a boozy-mossy immortelle-laced leather with a wine-dark rose. Also in a leathery vein, ELO is also launching Dangerous Complicity, by the young Mane perfumer Violaine Collas, a powdery osmanthus-patchouli suede.

Still in a retro mood? For Speakeasy by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato – the first time the Corsican perfumer signs outside Parfum d’Empire – Frapin slides from cognac to its natural partner, the cigar, in a modern reworking of the “tabac blond” accord, with a splash of mojito for a Papa-does-Havana jaunt. Marc-Antoine will also be presenting a limited-edition extrait for Parfum d’Empire on September 20^th in Paris. Can’t speak about it yet, but I’ve had a sniff of some of the final mods, and I’ll vouch that lovers of animal notes will be drooling over this one.

Like Frapin’s Speakeasy, Parfumerie Générale’s Djhenné, N°22 in the line, is based on a cool-warm contrast of lavender/mint and leather accords. Since this was just brought by the mailman, I haven’t had the time to skin-test yet, so more later.

Is tobacco set to become the new patchouli? It’s been starting to crop up more often, and Diptyque’s Volutes by Fabrice Pellegrin of Firmenich (a frequent collaborator of the brand) features one of the most delectable recent versions, with honeyed accents, tarry base notes and the utterly lovely contrast of an iris accord. Based on a childhood memory of Diptyque co-founder Yves Coueslant (like Tam Dao and Do Son), it was inspired by his ship journeys from Marseille to Saigon, and the Egyptian cigarettes smoked by glamorous female passengers…

Green is still trending, with Humiecki & Graef Candour by Christophe Laudamiel and Christoph Hornetz, a searingly fresh aromatic lavender-sage-cardamom accord that feels like mint though the note isn’t claimed, matched with a “parchment” effect (vanilla and almond milk).

Bertrand Duchaufour has been as busy as ever, with four new fragrances scheduled to be launched in September, one for The Different Company and three for a brand-new micro-niche house created by Paris jeweler Ann Gérard, for whom he composed the limited-edition extrait Pleine Lune in 2010.  A green chypre, a powdery iris leather and a linden-centered floral will be presented on September 20^th. Interestingly, these are very different from the work he did for/with Neela Vermeire or with me, proving that Mr. D. can adapt to his various clients/creative partners without foregoing his distinctive style.

The former Yves Saint Laurent makeup artist Terry de Gunzburg has added a fragrance collection to her gorgeous By Terry brand. The scents (gardenia, tuberose, jasmine, almond and violet) still need further testing but initial sniffs weren’t quite up to scratch: the notes tend to break up fairly quickly on blotters.

Last but not least, Cartier’s new mainstream masculine, Déclaration d’un Soir, is by no means a flanker to Jean-Claude Ellena’s Déclaration. This could be “Portrait of a Gentleman”: a big bold macho rose with a generous spray of pepper which I’ll be getting back to ASAP, before Mathilde Laurent presents her next Heure de Parfum, an aromatic blend of garden herbs called L’Heure Vertueuse…

So, on to you: which launch are you most eagerly expecting? And what should I review first? 

Drop a comment and I’ll draw a 5 ml spray preview sample of Diptyque Volutes in the eau de toilette version…

Added September 3rd: the draw is now over. Please check my latest post for the winner.

Picture taken by me at the launch of Volutes.