2 posts tagged "Dawn Goldworm"
EXCLUSIVE: Eau De Revillon
Showgoers in attendance at Andrew Heather’s clinic on luxury at Revillon’s Spring presentation today at the Hôtel de Crillon may have noticed something in the air—quite literally. As elaborate leather and fur pieces followed more elaborate leather and fur pieces down the runway, a metallic albeit spicy and fresh aroma was palpable. The idea was to create a sense of “fear and beauty” through smell, according to Dawn Goldworm of the 12.29 olfactory branding company, who met with Heather at his studio over the summer to talk about the prospect of scenting his second show for the storied house. “Andrew was inspired by the French court of Versailles, so playing with some of the aesthetic and olfactive elements of that era, we thought of talc, mercury, fur, and animal notes,” continued Goldworm, who partnered with legendary nose Francis Kurkdjian on the project, a man who knows his Versailles. In fact, no one is perhaps more well versed in the olfactory lore of the seventeenth-century palace than Kurkdjian, who was commissioned to reproduce Marie Antoinette’s perfume as well as a pair of her scented gloves for a work at the castle in 2005. “Based on this past experience, I was able to create the scent Andrew had in mind,” he points out of the resulting Siamese benzoin, rose absolute, orange flower, and Ceylon cinnamon eau that was wafted through the room—a dispersion method that presents a distinctly different formulation challenge than constructing a scent for the body. “Technically, you have to take into consideration the volume of the space, how the air flows, and if there is an existing scent or a scent to cover when creating a fragrance signature for a space,” Kurkdjian explains, adding that the key is “to capture [the fragrance's] aura and its psychology.” “You’re creating a smell, rather than a perfume,” Goldworm elaborates. “It should not remind one of perfume but rather of an emotion, to create a fresh experience, a new memory”—and make this collection that much harder to forget.
Purple Plans to Party Like It’s 1992
The written word can in fact be bottled, as Wallpaper magazine proved when it reportedly collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld on this year’s Paper Passion, a bookish fragrance if ever there was one; meant as a sensuous interpretation of sheets of looseleaf, the flacon sits neatly inside an actual hardback tome. It’s not the first of its kind, though, of course. Fantastic Man teamed up with Ben Gorham’s Byredo a few years back, and after an introduction via Colette’s Sarah Lerfel, Jefferson Hack partnered with Le Labo’s Fabrice Penot and Edouard Roschi to create Another 13, an aroma designed for Hack’s biannual glossy.
Now comes the news that Olivier Zahm’s Purple magazine will join the perfume party. At a dinner on Sunday to celebrate the iconic publication’s 20th anniversary, guests will receive a bottle of 1992, a commemorative joint venture with 12.29 perfumer Dawn Goldworm. An eight-year veteran of Coty with credentials that range from creating eaux for Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss, and Lady Gaga to scenting fashion shows for designers like Jason Wu and Rodarte as well as stores for Corto Moltedo, Goldworm has devised a special process with which to create a fragrance for someone else. “I’m a synesthete,” she explains, “someone who uses one sense to determine another.” Channeling this ability, she processes the exact identity of a subject and then produces a corresponding smell. “I look at color, texture, emotional demographics and try to understand the brand, then I translate that pretty directly into an olfactory vision.”
Following two years of work, Zahm’s scent is a “modern eau de cologne on a classic amber structure,” according to Goldworm—a reflection of Zahm the man and the magazine he founded. “He’s very interesting, fun, and intelligent,” Goldworm says, explaining that as an art critic, Zahm speaks about the fashion world with an entirely objective opinion. “He looks outside of himself, which is the same thing he does with Purple as a brand.” As for the magazine, it’s “complex—and hard to reproduce, like purple the color, which is very feminine but has a hard masculinity to it. It’s evasive, it’s rich, it’s tender, it’s very glamorous—all of that really lent itself to me understanding how to build the perfume. It’s almost religious—and very sexual, because it’s Olivier.” Cue the textural woods, animalic notes, musk tinged with tuberose and some fruity notes, “because [Olivier] thought they were funny.”
“It’s very niche,” Goldworm surmises of her handiwork, pointing out that it’s not meant to be popular. Rather, “it’s the kind of fragrance you buy, you live with, you fall in love with, and it becomes yours.” Sign us up.
1992 will be available in limited quantities at Purple Boutique in September 2012.