On the wall of his atelier, perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, artistic director of Christian Dior fragrances, has hung a large moodboard. A collage of black and white images: Monsieur Dior’s hand sketching a dress, snapshots of women’s and men’s fashion shows, the silhouette of a bottle, scraps of fabric… And a phrase written by the founder in 1956. “It is It’s difficult to imagine how much care and effort goes into the search for a new fragrance, from the creation of a bottle to its simple packaging. These occupations are so engaging that today I feel as much a perfumer as a couturier.”
Are these words that inspired you for the new fragrance from the Collection Privée, New Look?
«For Christian Dior, perfume was as important as fashion, so much so that after revolutionizing style in 1947 with the Bar Jacket he introduced innovative chapters in the field of fragrances. Yes, he was a couturier-parfumeur.”
Why this fragrance?
«I wanted to give an olfactory interpretation to Dior’s first collection, the one that entered the history of fashion in 1947. The perfume takes its name and codes. It is sharp, precise, elegant without ostentation. It has a geometrically balanced allure to also pay homage to Monsieur’s love for architecture. It is fresh and sensual, classic and boldly modern.”
It’s true, it has a very direct formula…
«I’ll tell you one thing: before arriving at perfume I wanted to become a fashion designer, but I didn’t have the skills and I diverted towards a discipline close to fashion. In composing New Look I imitated a couturier: I followed the texture of the “fabric” letting myself be guided by the ingredients, dosing them with a certain ease, to give it a sensuality on the skin.”
What are the components of perfume?
«The incense of Somalia, expressed here in its duality, at the same time fresh and solemn; then the aldehydes, synthetic molecules that express the scents of a hot metal and cross the entire fragrance vertically. And then there is amber, enveloping and sensual: the harmonious collision between these very different raw materials creates that long-lasting depth full of refinement that reflects the slightly theatrical and always contemporary aura of Dior couture.”
By the way, how does Maria Grazia Chiuri’s creativity inspire you?
«His work and his message to women, as well as the very relevant streetwear-chic fashion of Kim Jones, director of Dior menswear, guided me in bringing the fragrance into modernity. I observed how they had made use of the archives: because archetypes must be respected and combined with current events.”
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– 2024-04-11 06:59:20
