Credit: Fashionable fragrances
7 min read
From Cult Gaia’s miniature work of art and Hermès’s bracelet-inspired bottle to Chanel’s new N°5 purse sprays that can be worn on the wrist thanks to an innovative jewellery chain, this season’s most important accessory is your fragrance bottle.
Chanel, Hermès, Prada, Cult Gaia and other fashion-forward brands such as Merit have made aesthetics as important as ingredients when it comes to perfume.
Inspired by handbags, leather, cuffs, studs and sculptural objet d’art, a wave of beautiful and abstract fragrance bottles has sparked a major new art-meets-fragrance trend that has led to fragrance bottles being hyped as the newest It accessory.
Hermès is, of course, famed for its exceptional leather handbags named after some of the most stylish women in the world. Last month, it launched Barénia, a sensual and timeless scent that was almost 10 years in the making, enclosed within a bottle design based on Hermès’s Collier de Chien leather bracelet with domed leather studs.
US label Cult Gaia creates playful, structured wicker bags and cut-out crochet dresses. Following on from the label’s successful debut candle collection launch earlier this year, the brand launched three fine fragrances in September – Mast, Zan and Noor – in sculptural bottles that are as visually captivating as the brand’s clothing and accessories. Jasmin Hekmat, Cult Gaia’s founder, explains: “The bottle design was just as crucial as the fragrance itself. Design is the heart of everything we do. Our eau de parfums took two years to bring to life. We wanted the bottle to feel like a piece of art. The curvature is an ode to our Ark bag and the marble caps are individually handcrafted.” Musing on the link between fashion and fragrance, Hekmat adds: “Both are both forms of self-expression. They share the ability to evoke emotions and transform how you feel.”
Credit: Chanel
Fashion-insider favourite beauty brand Merit launched Retrospect this week to a waitlist of 10,000. It’s a complex, layered scent that took more than two years and over 200 rounds to develop. A rich, balanced scent that evolves and changes as you wear it all held within a sculptural delight of a bottle that is a style statement in itself. A spokesperson for the brand said that Merit aimed to “hark back to fragrance bottles of the past, which prioritised artistry – often glass bottles that were intentionally smaller for more concentrated oils, and that played with more organic forms”.
Elsewhere in the beauty world, Chanel launched its holiday fragrance collection at the end of September, and it’s an exciting, playful collection of scents, each of which comes in a distinguished bottle. New for this year are two limited edition purse sprays – Chanel N°5 L’eau Eau de Toilette and Chanel N°5 Eau de Parfum – both of which are designed as accessories in their own right and can be worn on the wrist thanks to a jewellery chain adorned with Gabrielle Chanel’s lucky number, five. Earlier this year, we also saw Maison Valentino introduce Anatomy of Dreams, a haute couture perfume collection of seven scents inspired by the hedonistic spirit of Rome. Each fragrance is presented in a classic, timeless rectangular glass bottle with a studded cap made of glass that echoes Maison Valentino’s signature emblem, the stud – a square, cruciform shape that pays homage to Rome and the bugnato technique found on the Roman palazzos.
17 of the most fashionable fragrances for autumn/winter 2024
Cult Gaia Noor Eau de Parfum
Inspired by the Farsi word for ‘light’, Gult Gaia’s Noor eau de parfum bursts with smoky black pepper, hints of French rose and the earthy essence of Haitian vetiver. The bottle’s design is an ode to the curvature of the brand’s Ark bag.
Hermès Barénia
An elegant and sensual fragrance, Barénia Eau de Parfum comes in a jewel-like bottle and features bespoke Calabrian bergamot, made only for Hermès, as well as butterfly lily, oak and patchouli.
Merit Retrospect Extrait de Parfum
Merit worked with master nose Fanny Bal in Paris to develop Retrospect. With top notes of bergamot, pear and aldehydes; a heart of jasmine, rosemary and orris; and a base of vanilla, musk and moss, it’s a clean, rich and complex scent all wrapped up in a beautiful and elegant mini bottle.
Valentino Anatomy of Dreams Sogno in Rosso
Each of the seven fragrances in the Anatomy of Dreams collection is presented in a timeless glass bottle and features surprising combinations of notes. Here, black pepper clashes with milk foam accord to wonderful effect.
Chanel N°5 L'eau purse spray
An all-new way to wear fragrance, the new limited-edition N°5 L’eau Eau de Toilette purse spray is adorned with a jewellery chain bearing Gabrielle Chanel’s lucky number five, which allows it to be worn around the wrist.
Hugo Boss The Scent Elixir Parfum Intense
This captivating fragrance from German fashion house Hugo Boss comes in a burgundy bottle – the colour of the season – and blends fiery pink peppercorn and atropa belladonna with an amber drydown for a sensual and hypnotic fragrance.
Prada Paradoxe Virtual Flower Eau de Parfum
With sophisticated jasmine, zesty bergamot top notes and lively heart notes of neroli, this fresh, floral fragrance is a brilliant everyday scent. It’s refillable, too.
Michael Kors Pour Femme
This Michael Kors fragrance and its bottle are as sexy and sophisticated as the brand itself. Kors says: “My latest fragrances are all about strength and sexiness. From the chain-link bottles to the distinctive notes like jasmine, patchouli, bergamot and sage, I wanted them to convey a sense of modern glamour and power. It’s about adventure, adrenaline and living life to the absolute fullest. I want people to be transported.”
Fendi Dolce Bacio Fragrance
For the first time in its history, Fendi unveiled a collection of seven perfumes this summer. Inspired by the house’s mastery of craftsmanship, the fragrance uses the finest, richest, highly concentrated (18% on average) natural and artisanal raw ingredients that compose the palette of the three perfumers who created the seven fragrances in the collection. Dolce Bacio is floral, woody and earthy with dry, smoky accents of Indonesian patchouli and velvety Damascene rose from Turkey.
Miss Dior Parfum
Francis Kurkdjian’s parfum version of Miss Dior features floral and gourmand notes in a rich woody scent. He says: “Creating a new Miss Dior is about wanting to convey the young generation of one’s era in a fragrance. It is also about embracing the house of Dior in its entirety.”
Chloé Atelier des Fleurs
Chloé designer Chemena Kamali pioneered the resurgence of the 70s boho trend this year, and the gold, navy and cream tones of this bottle are some of the most prominent shades in that palette. Plus, the floral fragrance with notes of bergamot, neroli and vanilla make this an excellent everyday fragrance option.
Jimmy Choo I Want Choo Le Parfum
A maximalist delight, this all-gold bottle holds a bold and glamorous amber-floral-woody scent that’s perfect for memorable evenings with friends.
Versace Crystal Noir
Versace’s newest scent, Crystal Noir comes in a typically elegant bottle and is a floral fragrance, created by Antoine Lie of Givaudan, dominated by notes of gardenia (Donatella Versace’s favorite flower) and amber.
Burberry Goddess for Women Eau de Parfum
Madagascan vanilla and lavender are just two of the most memorable notes in this elegant Burberry scent, which is housed in a square bottle directly pulled from the 1991 archives.
Shop Burberry Goddess for Women Eau de Parfum at Boots, £135
Mugler Angel Fantasm
In August, fashion house Mugler launched Angel Fantasm, a gourmand amber scent infused with notes of coconut, vanilla and patchouli.
Marc Jacobs Daisy Wild
This fresh, youthful fragrance from one of the most important names in fashion is bold and feminine. And in a first for prestige perfumery, it includes notes of banana blossom.
Gucci Flora Gorgeous Orchid
Gucci’s trailblazing collections are some of the most exciting on the current fashion calendar, and the brand’s newest fragrance is an intriguingly rich, floral and addictive scent.
Shop Gucci Flora Gorgeous Orchid Eau de Parfum at Boots, £68
Images: courtesy of brands
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