Louis Vuitton’s Les Extraits Collection has been given five new compositions created by perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud and architect Frank Gehry. Five new fragrances without top, heart, or base notes inspired by Gehry’s aesthetics based on movement and distortion.
Les Extraits Collection reflects the spirit of travel that Louis Vuitton has celebrated since its founding. The five fragrances in this collection take you through an imaginary journey, each one offering a different olfactory experience.
This is the first time Gehry has designed a perfume bottle. Taking the original bottle design, the designer altered and expanded the lines. He transformed it into curves that mimic an arc — like a sail skimming through space. The cap of the bottle is hand-polished and made from crumpled aluminium foil, calling to mind an imaginary flower, and is stamped with the LV seal inside.
“I wanted to revisit perfume’s major families. To give them a twist, expand them, exaggerate certain facets, and reveal purity. In revisiting chapters, florals, chypres, and ambers, you create movement and rounded, caressing forms, every time. I wanted to imagine a freshness that lasts. And a sensuality that’s not heavy,” said Belletrud.
Dancing Blossom
A hanging garden in a bottle, the Dancing Blossom is described as a “cascade of flowers”, featuring a blend of May rose, jasmine sambac, osmanthus, and Indian tuberose. The fragrance evokes a sensation of floating above the world. Belletrud noted that the rose is the most versatile flower with its freshness and spice, while the jasmine is more masculine.
Cosmic Cloud
A whirlwind of fruity musks, laced with ambrette, and chocolatey notes of Venezuelan Tonka bean. The fragrance is enhanced with the presence of oakmoss and cistus. Cosmic Cloud will be a sensual addition to your fragrance wardrobe.
Rhapsody
A sophisticated chypre made with flowers such as Jasmine Grandiflorum and May rose, and yerba maté to give it freshness. The floral notes go together with more woody and vanilla notes like vetiver and ylang-ylang.
Symphony
Described as a fusion of Heaven and Earth, Symphony is a sensory immersion: a musky, fruity, velvety cocktail of fresh ginger, bergamot, and grapefruit. Belletrud likens it to a sublime harmony of elements.
Stellar Times
A subliminal journey through time, Stellar Times is a golden palace — an oriental fusion of white amber, orange blossom, and leathery notes of Peruvian balsam. This fragrance feels like a magical escape on a magic carpet.
The perfumes are priced at SG$820 per bottle, the collection is now available in Louis Vuitton boutiques as well as its e-commerce site with complimentary shipping.
Also in fragrance news, Francis Kurkdijan has joined Dior to become its newest perfume creation director. He will be succeeding François Demachy after his retirement. As a lover of art, Laurent Kleitman, CEO of Dior Parfums has no doubt Kurkdijan will fit in well. He will also continue heading his eponymous fragrance house concurrently with his role at Dior.
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