As the fashion world eagerly anticipates London Fashion Week, set to dazzle from Thursday 12th to Tuesday 17th September 2024, our senses are primed for a feast of textures and scents. This sartorial extravaganza, celebrating its 40th year, provides the perfect backdrop for exploring the fascinating intersection of fashion and fragrance.
In the realm of perfumery, skilled ‘noses’ have long been crafting olfactory experiences that transcend mere scent, evoking tactile sensations through clever compositions. Just as designers manipulate fabrics to create visual and tactile masterpieces, perfumers blend notes to conjure textures that tantalise our noses and transport our imaginations.
As we stand on the cusp of London’s fashion-forward moment, it’s fitting to delve into this sensory synergy. In this two-part blog series, we’ll explore how fragrances can capture the essence of fabrics, blurring the lines between what we smell and what we feel.
In this first instalment, we’ll focus on three luxurious textures that have long been staples in high fashion: suede, silk, and velvet. Each of these fabrics possesses unique characteristics that clever perfumers have managed to translate into scent.
So, join us as we unravel three olfactory interpretations of these sumptuous materials, creating a sensory experience that goes beyond the fragrance itself, to visual and tactile ways of engage our sense in sensorially surprising ways…
Coach for Women
‘I knew I wanted to start from the rose and the suede…’ says perfumer Juliette Karagueuzoglo of working on this perfumed project for fashion house, Coach. The suede note adds a velvety texture, enveloping the fragrance in a soft, sensual embrace. It complements the lush rose, creating a harmonious blend of floral and leather. Raspberry leaves lend a crisp, fruity brightness, while musk deepens the composition. The result is an elegant, modern scent that captures Coach’s refined yet approachable aesthetic.
£40 for 30ml eau de parfum theperfumeshop.com
Floris Tuberose in Silk
A ‘celebration of voluptuous tuberose’, think silken peignoirs and marabou slippers, the headiness of this iconic flower enrobed in the solar breeze of jasmine, the soft musk of warm skin and a surprisingly fruity benzoin base. Sourcing a natural tuberose absolute from southern India, there’s sunshine folded within, so it blooms beautifully for hours. In-house perfumer Penny Ellis worked with perfumery director Edward Bodenham to create this hand-poured, small batch edition. Stock up now!
£180 for 100ml eau de parfum florislondon.com
Lalique Velvet Plum
René Lalique revolutionised Art Nouveau glassware and jewellery, and the house keep his spirit alive with an annual trio of Les Compositions Parfumées celebrating modern, molecular perfumery. Here, we are invited to wrap ourselves in suede and cashmere, soon to be enfolded bohemian lushness of heliotrope, with iris and osmanthus all snuggled up on a dark chocolate-y patchouli base. And that extraordinary coloured juice! In the frosted bottle, it looks (and wears) otherworldly.
£210 for 100ml eau de parfum lalique.com
Written by Suzy Nightingale