The 21st award ceremony of the Fragrance Foundation France was held this evening at the Salle Wagram in Paris.
Both the professionals and the public gave top
votes to Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire.
It swiped every prize in its category, just like Elie Saab Le Parfum did last year: best feminine fragrance, best ad
campaign, best bottle design…I’m quite glad this won, since the
project originated in a limited edition authored by Delphine Jelk (Drom) and therefore, was not a huge
marketing-driven project to begin with. Yves Rocher So
Elixir Purple by Marie Salamagne (Firmenich) was elected Best Fragrance for
Women in the “brand-owned retail channel” category.
In the masculines, things were much more spread
out, with Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb
nabbing Best Fragrance for Men – always glad to see Olivier Polge (IFF) get
some recognition. The public voted for Diesel Only The Brave Tattoo by Alberto Morillas and Honorine Blanc
(Firmenich). Kenzo Homme Sport won
for its ad campaign. L’Eau de Provence
Eau Universelle by Mathieu Nardin (Robertet) for L’Occitane was
distinguished as the best in the « brand-owned retail channel »
category.
AsI was on my way to New York this year
just as the journalist, evaluator and blogger jury was convening to vote on the
“Expert’s Award” for niche and exclusive fragrances, I couldn’t take part in
the discussion this year, which may be just as well since Séville à l’aube was among the finalists.
Here are the Experts’ Award finalists,
in no special order:
Replica: Beach Walk by Jacques Cavallier and Marie
Salamagne (Firmenich) for Maison Martin Margiela
Figuier Eden by Armani Privé (couldn’t find a
mention of the perfumer)
Lumière Blanche by Sidonie Lancesseur for Olfactive
Studio
Amyris pour Femme by Francis Kurkdjian for Maison
Francis Kurkdjian
Lys Fumé by Shyamala Maisondieu and Rodrigo
Flores-Roux (Givaudan) for Tom Ford Private Blends
Ombre de Hyacinth by Calice Becker (Givaudan) for Tom
Ford Private Blends
Amazingreen by Jean-Christophe Hérault (IFF) for
Comme des Garçons Parfums
Volutes by Fabrice Pellegrin (Firmenich)
for Diptyque
Une Voix Noire by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge
Lutens
Séville à l’aube by Bertrand Duchaufour for L’Artisan Parfumeur
And the winner of the
Prix des Experts 2013 is…
Volutes by Diptyque
Which I’m actually quite all right with… I’m
already very honored that Séville à l’aube
came out in the top 10, and I do very much like Volutes.
Olfactive Studio, I’m very happy to say, was handed
the Best Concept Award: I’d argued
during last year’s discussion, when the brand’s three fragrances made it into
the finalists, that it should receive some sort of special recognition. Clearly
I wasn’t the only one who thought so, so bravo to Céline Verleure!
A note on the voting
procedure for the Experts’ Award:
Each juror selected three scents out of a list
of about 100 niche and exclusive collection 2012 launches. The 10 scents
awarded the most points were then smelled blind on two blotters, one
fresh-dipped and the other dipped a couple of hours earlier so the drydown
could be perceived. The jurors were not apprised of the result at the end of
the session.
Throughout the evening, the guests of the Fragrance Foundation were invited to vote with their smartphones for "le parfum mythique" -- the Hall of Fame... Any one of the nominees would have well deserved the awards, which ultimately went to Eau Sauvage in the masculines and Shalimar in the feminines.
Throughout the evening, the guests of the Fragrance Foundation were invited to vote with their smartphones for "le parfum mythique" -- the Hall of Fame... Any one of the nominees would have well deserved the awards, which ultimately went to Eau Sauvage in the masculines and Shalimar in the feminines.
Oh, congratulations! I've only sniffed five of the experts choices; Seville is the only one I own. Volutes is other one I also want, so I can live with this, too. :-)
RépondreSupprimerIt's hard to argue with Eau Sauvage and Shalimar. Have they voted for "mythiques" before, or are these the first? ~~nozknoz
Nozknoz, I think it's the first Hall of Fame vote. I didn't note the other contenders -- usual suspects: N°5, Angel, Trésor, L'Air du Temps, Paris... I think one of the criteria is that they still sell well after all these years. But as I said, they all deserve to be in the perfume hall of fame!
RépondreSupprimerHi Denyse!
RépondreSupprimerJust to say I'm happy to see Eau Universelle (L'Occitane)winning a prize. I own a 300ml bottle and it's a very nice, mood-lifting, cologne.
Kindest regards
Saxo