Interview with Aurélien Guichard
by Raphaella
Aurélien, what led you to become a perfumer?
I am from Grasse, in the south of France. Growing up with a famous perfumer father, grandparents, jasmine and rose producers; it was difficult not to be influenced. The less obvious reason is my mother. She is a Sculptor. She highly contributed also, in my need to do a creative job. This job (or passion) is not just about mixing ingredients, it is about creating scents with personal ideas that you truly believe in.
Please tell us about the fragrances you have created, let’s see, we have the fabulous Robert Piguet Baghari, Robert Piguet Visa, Bond No. 9 Chinatown, Bond No 9. Andy Warhol Silver Factory-what am I missing?
Gucci by Gucci for men (2008)- the 3 Elixirs Charnel by Guerlain (2008 with Christine Nagel)- John Galliano by John Galliano (2008 with Christine Nagel)- Eau de fleur de Thé by Kenzo (2008)- Azzaro Couture by Azzaro (2008)- Moon Sparkle men by Escada (2007)- Play by Comme des Garcons (2007)-Eau du temps by Nina Ricci (2007 with my father Jean Guichard)- Lacoste Touch of Sun (2006)- Les belles Cherry fantasy Nina Ricci (2006)- Unforgivable men by Sean John (2006 with Pierre Negrin- Dave Apple and Caroline Sabas)- Love In Paris by Nina Ricci (2005)- Anisa Bella by Guerlain (2005)-
The Baghari and Visa are my favorites from the Robert Piguet line as well as the Bond No. 9 Chinatown and the Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory-all of these are stunning-where do you find your inspiration? Each one is so unique-
Regarding The Robert Piguet Fragrances, the credit should be given to the original creators of those amazing fragrances. I reorchestrated the existing formulas and try to do my best to respect the work that was done before me, 60 years ago. Keeping the original beauty and olfactive signature, and making it more contemporary.
This work of respect for the past is only possible, because I have a total freedom to use qualitative (therefore expensive) ingredients. The quality of the product, the right formulation allows Visa and Baghari to have a great diffusion and a huge trail… this is typical of Piguet Fragrances.
I created Chinatown and Silver Factory with Laurice Rahmé. We created them together. Laurice wanted spectacular fragrances: Distinctive fragrances...not shy fragrances.
When It comes to creativity Laurice is amazing, because she has the gift to see the potential beauty in an unfinished fragrance. She takes risk, goes for different powerful fragrances and put strong ideas in a bottle.
Often, I realize that the fragrance I create are just like the people I create them with.
If you were not a perfumer, what would you be doing?
A bad painter, maybe.
What was your favorite fragrance growing up?
Fahrenheit by Christian Dior.
What is the most amazing fragrance you have ever smelled?
Early morning of August, in the south of France (Grasse) the smell coming from the fields of jasmine…intense and soft, fresh and warm, complex and simple; in fact indescribable but MAGICAL!
Read Chandler Burr's review of Robert Piguet in his Scent Notes of the New York Times.
"It is possible that the secret of Fracas (1948) is an equilibrium between the power of Cellier’s style and the power of tuberose. Perfumer Aurelien Guichard is the caretaker of the formula, which he calls “incredibly complex.” (Due to bans on various raw materials for toxicology, no mid-century perfume is street legal in its original form, and Guichard is charged with conserving Cellier’s vision while constantly updating it with non-allergenic materials.)"
-Chandler Burr
Who was, if any, your inspiration for delving into perfumery?
The passion: my father (perfumer)
The creativity: my mother (sculptor)
The respect for ingredients: my grand father (producer of natural raw material for perfumery)
You are already such an accomplished perfumer for one being so young- where do you see your future leading to?
I live with the conviction that the best is always yet to come… I want to keep on creating fragrances that I am proud of, with people that I enjoy working with. Hopefully, getting better at creating new innovative scents. That is my only ambition.
Anything new on the horizon that we can expect in 2009?
I hope so! In 2009, distinctive fragrances with trails and diffusion… more ‘extravagance’, more feminitity, more attitude, more curves, more colors.
Robert Piguet’s VISA – Passport to Immortality
Fragrance review
by Christine Lewandowski
People are hungry for stories. It’s part of our very being. Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too. It goes from one generation to another.
-Studs Terkel
It has been exactly a year since my sister & I tried a side-by-side comparison of the fragrance VISA. We usually select fragrances based on the axiom if it smells “awful” on her, it will smell fabulous on me. Therefore, you can imagine our surprise when we both began “mmmmm” ing over the small patches on our arms where we had sprayed VISA, as we stood chatting with Givaudan’s perfumer, Aurelien Guichard at the Sniffapalooza Fall Ball 2007.
The original VISA by Germaine Cellier launched in 1945. The executives of Robert Piguet chose Aurelian Guichard to “adapt” VISA for us today. So on an October afternoon in NYC, a young perfumer charged with reviving a classic perfume, meets two sisters who have never worn his scent before. We made our introductions and explained that Cindy and I were siblings (who usually wore nothing in common, fragrantly speaking); Aurelian seemed curious to see how his VISA behaved on the two of us.
Let us put the fragrance into perspective with the description of the notes from the Robert Piguet website: “A blend of spices, flowers and fruits from different areas of the globe, Visa de Robert Piguet is its wearer's passport to an exotic encounter. Visa opens with lush notes of white vineyard peach, pear, violet leaves and Italian bergamot and yellow mandarin essences. Heart notes include rich ylang essence mingled with rose, immortelle and orange flower absolutes. Essence of Indonesian Patchouli and sandalwood, vetiver, moss, vanilla beans, benzoin and a gourmand leathery accord compose the drydown.”
This peach, the peach note in VISA, is different. According to the note description, it’s
“white vineyard peach”. THIS peach smells exactly like a fresh peach. You know the flattish
ones at the specialty grocer, those peaches. The violet, bergamot & mandarin notes
work together to make the entire top more “alive” and longer lasting.
The next phase gets interesting; the rose note melds with the peach & gets a little lift from
the Ylang- ylang. This gives the effect of “ripening” the peach note. At this point, the scent
is naturally sweet but soothing at the same time. Thank goodness, the orange blossom
and vanilla do not “pop” on me, as they do on Cindy.
VISA saves the very, very best for last, the dry down. Benzoin has a treacle like odor.
In combination with vanilla and patchouli, benzoin blends beautifully with the rose and
sandalwood to further the overall sense of delicious warmth. The fragrance literally melts
into the skin, particularly in the parfum concentration where the dry down is much more
pronounced. This is where VISA gets that delightful “dirty” note. Vetiver can do this to
a scent. I personally love it & find it quite attractive. It melds, mutates and digs deep to
develop the most seductively beautiful leather scent I have ever encountered.
VISA was not the same experience for me as it was my sister. It was an olfactory journey
into the various expressions of warmth, an earthy encounter of ripe white peach, woods & leather.
The “melting” effect is unique to VISA among my scents. As a result, VISA is extraordinarily
reactive to changes in body chemistry, temperature & humidity. VISA has been an extremely
cost effective fragrance purchase, providing me with tremendous fragrance variety. The EDP has
a much longer lasting top and heart. Whereas, the parfum has a smaller top but develops a
warm heart and a deep, rich base. The longevity of both versions is excellent: the development
takes hours and gives the effect of wearing multiple, beautiful scents throughout the day.
Cindy & I purchased bottles of the eau de parfum that day. It was the first time the Law of
Fragrance Sisterhood did NOT apply.
What has any of this to do with immortality? Well, it is a story we like to kid each other about.
I tease my sister for flirting with the cute French perfumer & for loving a fragrance that has both
patchouli and vetiver in it. (She has always sworn to me that vetiver smells like “feet”.)
In addition to sharing the discovery of a beloved fragrance with her, I also share my love
of fragrance with my daughter, Sofie.
Sofie is very opinionated about fragrance and for a young girl; she constantly amazes me with
her innate knowledge and taste. Since she was very little, she has enjoyed occasionally
selecting my perfume for the day. Her choices were consistently between the same few scents.
Even if I had packed the bottle away, she would describe it well enough so that I knew exactly the one to which she was referring.
Last year VISA was added to that select list. Since then, whenever I have worn VISA she would snuggle in extra close & tell me I “smell good”. When I tuck her into bed at night, she would ask for “just one more hug.” As I pull away, Sofie would hold on to my wrist & raise it up close to her nose. “No, stay!” she would say. When I asked my daughter if she would like to add anything to the VISA review, her reply was immediate: “It smells like Mommy.”
If that isn’t immortality, I don’t know what is.
-Christine Lewandowski
1-Quoteland.com, Inc., < http://www.quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=2068>, accessed 13 October 2008.
2-R.B. Tisserand, The Art of Aromatherapy, Rochester, VT, 1977, p. 186.
3-Robert Piguet Paris – France, < http://www.ffandcltd.com/visa.asp>, accessed 13 October 2008.
All rights reserved. Certian photographs cannot be used with permission.
Sniffapalooza Magazine 2006-2011
NOTE: Three NEW Q & A added and NEW Visa & Baghari reviews by Christine Lewandowski, Visa review & Andy Warhol Bond No. 9 Silver Factory review and links follow interview for more on Aurélien Guichard
photograph by Michael Friedlander
VISA Review
Robert Piguet
Fragrance Review
by Mark David Boberick
This past year, Robert Piguet Parfums re-released 2 more of their classic fragrances from days gone by. One of them is VISA. Originally created in 1945 by famed perfumer Germaine Cellier,
it has been re-interpreted, re-imagined, and yes, re-formulated by Givaudan’s own Aurelien Guichard. The scent is considered to be an Oriental Gourmand, and if the word Gourmand scares you, sit tight, we’ll get to that in a minute…
There are mixed feelings in the Perfume World (at least in the virtual one) regarding the re-issuing of classic, vintage fragrances. Re-Issuing inevitably means re-formulating because French Laws being what they are, many original ingredients are no longer available or even legal. I have never smelled the original VISA, so I have absolutely no point of reference with this fragrance, and that’s just as well.
I’ve been doing my research. I’ve been reading a lot of opinions on many different scents that have been re-released over the past few years. Often, people are terribly unhappy with the results. (Balmain Vent Vert stands out in my memory as getting a lot of negative comments from people so very familiar with the original) The surprising general consensus among this community seems to be that they would rather the perfume houses didn’t even bother to re-issue the fragrances at all because they hardly ever smell like they “should.”
Well, I proudly disagree.
When I smell VISA, I am not immediately transported to Post-War Paris. There is nothing about it that smells vintage to me. And why should there be? This isn’t Paris in 1945. And since 1945, I think its safe to say – the market has changed, a bit.
In 2007, over 800 fragrances were released. Did you smell them all? Well, did you? Of course you didn’t. Of the ones you did smell however, I think it is probably safe to say that none of them smelled “old.” Alright – there may have been one or two, but for the most part? Times have changed and tastes have shifted. It’s a big market to drop a new fragrance into and if you’re going to do it – it needs to be forward-thinking and current.
VISA is current but it is, I’m happy to say - not redundant. On my skin, VISA opened with radiantly ripe fruits and a luscious dose of violet. The fruits die down quickly to reveal a floral heart with a surprise of immortelle. Maybe I’m wrong, but I personally never consider fruit notes to be gourmand. Crazy, I know. So it’s not until the appearance of the immortelle that this fragrance hints at gourmand territory for me. The seductive base is loaded with satisfaction. Vetiver, sandalwood, vanilla, and benzoin keep it grounded. The highlight of this scent for me, is when the doughy immortelle starts to warm the leathery accord in the base.
VISA is the kind of scent you don’t mind smelling on your cashmere scarf or your leather gloves. Actually, you sort of hope the scent never leaves those items – it is always a welcomed accompaniment to any accessory.
The scent lasts quite well and has exquisite sillage – always there but no threat of asphyxiation. Robert Piguet’s trademarks of a “strict adherence to good taste, true luxury, a horror of the commonplace and an innate sense of seduction” have not been sacrificed. This scent is relevant and still manages to be unique. It is as exotic as it is comforting. VISA is at home on a body cloaked in sweats or sable.
Aurelien Guichard had a very difficult task ahead of him when he set out to transform a vintage classic into a modern classic. The good news is of course that, and this shouldn’t come as a big surprise to anyone, he is entirely capable. He has already given us the exquisite Chinatown and Andy Warhol's Silver Factory for Bond No. 9 as well as the Piguet re-issue of Baghari. He is a young perfumer with a modern vision that manages to honor the classic history of perfume as well as the future of it.
There is something luxurious in just knowing that you can reach for a bottle of fragrance that was once long lost and is now, once again available to us all. I shudder to think of how many incredible classics we have lost. So, even if re-issues manage to be ghosts of their former selves, (and I’m not implying that VISA is – remember, I’ve never smelled it) I still am fortunate that we can say we have them back with us.
Welcome back, VISA.
One of the joys of attending a Sniffapalooza event is that we sometimes meet the perfumers who create the fragrances we are trying. Let’s face it, how often do we get the opportunity to have the perfumer evaluate their fragrance on our own skin? When the perfumer is as good looking as Aurelian Guichard, my sister may be happily married but she is not stupid and since she is a paramedic and a firefighter, she is used to interacting with people. Cindy leaned in to hear what he had to say. The juice had dried down a bit. She held out her arm for consideration. His one eyebrow arched.
According to Aurelian, Cindy brought out the Gourmand (think “edible”) aspect of the scent. On her, it was a sumptuous mélange of pear, sparking mandarin & fine quality orange flower. In short, it smelled exactly like her back yard in Florida when the citrus and pear trees bloom. The vanilla in the base folded the whole together into a delicious pastry on my sisters’ skin.
“Visa takes hours to go through the different phases.” Cindy told me. “The guys at the fire department love it when I wear this fragrance. It gets into the air conditioning ducts & wafts all through the department.”
It’s now my turn. Cindy has already decided that she loves this. If the Law of Fragrance Sisterhood holds true, then VISA should be terrible on my skin. Nothing could be further from the truth. VISA does smell very different on me however. There’s none of the back yard citrus floral fest of Cindy’s experience with VISA. VISA knows I like to get “dirty”, in the very best way possible, of course. According to Aurelian, I bring out the more Oriental characteristics of VISA. The first note I identify is peach. Peach & I have a sordid past. I hate the smell of peach, if it smells in any way artificial. It is the reason I cannot love the great Mitsouko.
Baghari
New fragrance review
by Christine Lewandowski
Robert Piguet’s Baghari – The Voice
The reissue of Robert Piguet’s last fragrance,
Baghari reminds me of a beautiful soprano voice:
lilting one moment, fierce the next, always
impossibly beautiful. Perhaps it the combination
of notes in the 2006 Aurelian Guichard release
“bergamot, neroli, violet, aldehydes, jasmine,
orange blossom, rose (Bulgarian or Damascene),
rose Centifolia, iris, vetiver, amber, musk, vanilla”
which evokes this imagery.
Whatever the reason, Baghari “sings” very softly
on the skin, at first. Wait the prerequisite few seconds
& sniff. If you do not, you may receive an “aldehyde
hammer”, right between the eyes. (which Raphaella lives
for as this is her new favorite fragrance)
Instead, let the fragrance dry down more than you usually would. One of the signatures of the Aurelian Guichard fragrances for Piguet is a long development phase. I mention this because I do not want you to be concerned about missing the top notes. Now close your eyes (providing safety is not an issue) and inhale.
Immediately Baghari reminds me of a dramatic coloratura soprano such as Joan Sutherland, a voice of tremendous flexibility but with incredible sustaining power. The violet adds a little bit of woodiness to the neroli: subtle but distinct amidst the more crystalline aldehyde/bergamot/jasmine trio. Some may find this a whisper at this point but it is a stage whisper, in my opinion.
The heart notes of Baghari reflect the vocal talents heard in the roles of the mezzo-soprano. Here in the heart of Baghari is the drama of the fragrance. A full stage production now: all three roses emit a chord that sets the iris and orange blossom vibrating. This phase is the operatic role equivalent of Rosina in Rossini’s, Barber of Seville or the seductress, Amneris, in Verdi’s Aida.
Finally, the deepest, richest female voice reverberates throughout the room. One does not just hear this voice, one feels it. The dry down of Baghari is the rare contralto voice. Here the senses partake of scent; scent which has a texture. Amber musk clings to the skin; vetiver and vanilla make it seductive. What began lightheartedly has become seriously sexy. It does not shimmer, it thrums. Just as “true operatic contraltos are very rare” , so too is a dry down of this caliber.
Baghari, of all the Robert Piguet fragrances, has its own voice. It is the voice of the soprano: rich, complex, flexible, warm, dramatic but always and ultimately feminine.
Boisdejasmine.com < http://boisdejasmin.typepad.com/_/2006/09/piguet_baghari.html> accessed 18 October 2008.
Appelman, D. Ralph (1986). The Science of Vocal Pedagogy: Theory and Application. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253203786.
ANDY WARHOL SILVER FACTORY
by Bond No. 9
By Mark David Boberick
NOTES:
Top: Bergamot, Grapefruit, Lavender
Heart: Violet, Incense, Jasmine, Iris
Base: Amber, Wood Resin, Cedarwood
Andy Warhol is alive and well and living in a fabulous perfume bottle.
The first collaboration between the Andy Warhol Foundation and Bond No. 9, the edgy, extremely
successful downtown perfumery is sure to impress.
Incense lovers: pay attention!
What may seem like an odd marriage actually makes a lot more sense than you might think.
Andy Warhol loved perfume. He once said, “Another way to take up more space is with
perfume. I really love wearing perfume.” This year marks the 20th anniversary of his death
and what better way to continue to celebrate one of the most influential artists of the 20th century
than with a series of Warhol inspired fragrances. Behold Silver Factory.
Bond conceived Silver Factory as “a smooth, smoky, spicy blend of interlacing incense –
a key scent of the ‘60s.” Created by Aurelien Guichard, Silver Factory opens with a lot of
bergamot. Bond describes the bergamot as being “soft and gentle – as if it had a hangover,”
and I couldn’t agree more. It mingles beautifully with the already present incense, right away setting the mood for this fragrance as being calm, cool, and collected. The lavender and the grapefruit in the opening are minimal to my nose, making their appearance only for several brief seconds at a time. In a few minutes the overture has finished and the curtain is now up. Andy Warhol’s favorite scent, violet starts to emerge. It is not a strong violet, and like all of the florals in this fragrance, it is supported by the incense. From the very start of this fragrance, there is a definite metallic quality – and there would have to be, right? The silvery Iris and the sultry jasmine are never strong, but they are there. It is around this time that things start to warm up. The Incense is full, sultry, and smoky and it supports the dissonant florals which are now like “warmed-up, molten silver.” The rather extraordinary part of this fragrance emerges around this time, about an hour after application – when things are both warm and cool – we have the metallic coolness paired with the warmth and smokiness of the incense with the florals vying for sides – not sure where they belong. It is absolutely breathtaking. The drydown is a simple, soothing aroma of resiny amber with a touch of cedarwood. Nothing strong, nothing different either, but very nice.
The Factory was Andy Warhol’s original studio on 47th Street in New York City from 1964-1968. It was called the Silver Factory because it was decorated in silver paint and tin-foil by Warhol’s friend Billy Name, whose own apartment was seen by Warhol who then requested Name repeat the décor to his Studio. Name also used shattered mirrors and Warhol would often bring in silver balloons to float around the ceiling. At the Factory, Warhol threw groundbreaking parties for the hip, artsy types. It was also here that Warhol created and mass-produced his art. The Factory, and especially its silver-skin represented the decadence of the 1960s.
Decadent? Yes, Bond’s new creation is indeed decadent – but it favors the more luxurious aspect of the word. It is luxuriously priced at $230 for a 100 ml bottle making it the most expensive Bond creation to date. The reason? Bond has never been shy about their perfumes – they are very quick to tell you the percentage of perfume oil in their eau de parfums – much higher than other fragrance companies. With Silver Factory, however, Bond has gone above and beyond their standard, already high percentage of 22 percent to make Silver Factory a 28 percent concentration. They are calling it just that, in fact – a Perfume Concentrate, much in the manner of a can of soup. Remember, we are also talking about Warhol here and one of the most recognizable images of Modern Art is the Campbell’s soup can which Warhol painted excessively. This “Condensed” perfume comes in a textured silver signature star-shaped bottle that has a myriad of Warhol references. Silver Factory’s label takes its inspiration from the soup can, but in true Warhol style, the colors have been psychedelically flipped into a world of turquoise and purple. The Bond subway token, substitutes for the Campbell’s emblem, bridging the 2 color fields together. This bottle is kitschy – exactly what it should be. It never once compromises the artistic integrity of the perfumery or the artist but is a very happy solution to the marriage.
The fragrance is divine, the best new release from Bond No. 9 since Chinatown. It has excellent sillage and superb longevity. It is quite avant-garde and thank god for that. In a market dominated by fruity florals, it is refreshing to smell a smoky, heavy scent. This is time-warp in a bottle. Most importantly for me, this scent truly represents everything Andy Warhol stands for. It’s not just about creating an evocative atmosphere – which Silver Factory certainly does. It’s about taking something that we as perfume lovers all know – a smoky incense scent – and re-interpreting it, because this is exactly what Andy Warhol did. He took a photo of Marilyn Monroe and gave it back to us in 7 polychromatic different forms.
He took what we all know and spun it on its axis. This is precisely what Silver Factory has achieved; your typical Incense with a fascinating new twist.
Thank you Laurice Rahme, Aurelien Guichard and thank you Andy Warhol.
Tell us about the new John Galliano Signature fragrance-I heard this was intended this to be a “olfactory voyage of Galliano’s ideal girl”?
I created the fragrance with Christine Nagel. It is truly a Voyage into the Galliano universe... flowers, powder but above all aldehydes. The fragrance had to be distinctive, extravagant and ultra feminine. It is Galliano because it is unique and it represents the Galliano ideal girl; You can't create a fragrance for such a 'contagious' and passionate designer without being immerse into his inspiration. Creating a fragrance for a couturier is about being his olfactive performer...
What do you think of the state of fragrance today, with so many new fragrances directed on such a commercial level?
I never really understand the meaning of commercial... somehow it is good to be commercial as long as you are distinctive and unique.
I always try to create wearable fragrances that are distinctive enought to be 'considered as creative'.
Creating a fragrance is not just about being creative and it is not just about being wearable. It is about both but more importantly it is about creating emotions, beauty and uniqueness.
We all are hoping that you may one day work again with Laurice Rahme and Bond No. 9..any secrets you can tell us?
Laurice and I are continuously working on new ideas, together. Laurice knows that I value so much working with her, because she takes risks and believes in my creations. Whenever I come to NY city, I stop by Bond Street, it is a must do!...Laurice is inspirational and I can't wait for our next fragrance to be launched.
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