HERMÈS PERFUMER

The story of Hermès begins in 1837 when the saddlery craftsman Thierry Hermès opened a workshop in Paris, but the olfactory adventure started properly in 1951 with Eau d’Hermès composed by Edmond Roudnitska. The arrival ten years later of Calèche, the first women’s perfume from Hermès, confirmed this commitment to the perfumer’s art.Since then there has been a succession of creations from the great names of perfumery, each making a unique auteur’s contribution to perfumery at the house of Hermès, both as a craftsman and as an artist.

In 2004, Jean-Claude Ellena joined the house to become its perfumer and create all its fragrances. Never forgetting the vulnerability of the individual moment he’s striving to transcribe, Jean-Claude Ellena tries to find the “countries behind the air” * so dear to Jean Giono. He reveals them, enters into them and makes them accessible to us by using a fewstrong symbols... because a mystery can sometimes be likened to a stance or an attitude, whereas the simplicity of a sketch can harbour unsuspected depths. What captures us, then, is not what encloses, but what grants access to a hidden, vibratile space which asks only to be discovered… To this poet, “what is essential is invisible to the eye”. **Isn’t that the only difference between an image and the imaginary?

A step like this illustrates the skills inherent to the house of Hermès which puts craftsmanship, individuality and a rigorous element of fantasy at the heart of its endeavours.

In the library of Hermès perfumes, each perfume is a story, each perfume opens a new imaginary world.

The Novel-Perfumes Like stories filled with characters and events, the Novel-Perfumes extend time with their lasting presence. They draw their inspiration from the heritage of Hermès and its universe. Calèche, Équipage and also Eau des Merveilles, Terre d’Hermès, Voyage d’Hermès and Jour d’Hermès tell a story and invite us to share in the imaginary world of the house.

The Novella-Perfumes Shorter tales with a more limited number of characters and events, the Novella-Perfumes – the Gardens and Colognes – concentrate time around a single moment. An olfactory stroll in the footsteps of the in-house perfumer, the Gardens establish a new sensory geography inspired by annual themes at Hermès. The Colognes are generous, figurative expressions of simple pleasures, and sit perfectly in this register of olfactory snapshots.

The Poem-perfumes Sober and intense as haikus, they reinvent a precious and unusual aspect of nature, sublimated by the inspired rewriting of a composer always eager to break new ground. With raw materials named in direct terms to produce a tenuous sensation and an ineffable impression, Hermessence is a collection of unique perfumes, intended exclusively for Hermès stores.

CUIR D’ANGE

Perfumer to the house of Hermès since 2004, Jean-Claude Ellena draws on his meetings with unusual people, raw materials and places. Literature is also a major source of inspiration for him. Particularly the books of the French novelist Jean Giono*, a man whose work has been by his side for thirty years and which was instrumental in the creation of Cuir d’Ange, the twelfth fragrance in the Hermessence collection.Cuir d’Ange reveals the most intimate aspect of Jean-Claude Ellena’s imagination. It demonstrates his relationship with, and proximity to, Giono who is equally attached to their native Provence, its smells and landscapes.

It all started with an extract from Jean le Bleu, Giono’s autobiographical novel in which the narrator describes his father’s cobbler’s workshop: “I remember my father’s workshop. I cannot walk past a cobbler’s shop without thinking my father is still alive, somewhere beyond this world, sitting at a last with his blue apron, his awl, his stretching pliers and his burnisher, busy making shoes in angel leather for some god with a thousand feet…”**

Working leather, instigating its metamorphosis. A fundamental gesture at the heart of the house of Hermès. A perfume inspired by leather, a perfumer’s gesture that Jean-Claude Ellena has questioned again and again since he first came to Hermès. And it now finds an answer in Cuir d’Ange, angel leather, in the form of an Hermessence.“Two words, two smells: the smell of angels, the smell of leather, and already the name of a perfume. It would take me ten years to write it as a poem. My words are smells, and ten years is nothing when you want to change the way we usually see things, or I should say smell things.”

Jean-Claude Ellena gives us an unexpected vision of leather, its softness and elegance.

The first notes of Cuir d’Ange resonate, limpid and clear, like the first lines of a poem, and they endure bewitchingly. Leather comes to the fore, silky, delicate, transformed.

And to enhance it, a harmony of natural nuances, of leathers and touches that ask only to be caressed. At the first contact comes the suppleness of sandy pink Swift calfskin, paying homage to leather in its most natural state. This resonates with the soft tone used to clothe the stopper and the outside of the saddle-stitched case. Then pale greige goatskin appears, hidden on the inside of the case. A subtle refined detail that appears to have been polished by a craftsman’s deft hands. Lastly, a luminous beige with tones of cognac colours the bottle and tints the fragrance with flashes of amber.

* Le Serpent d’étoiles, Jean Giono, éditions Grasset, 1933.** Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, éditions Gallimard, 1946.

* Jean Giono is a twentieth century French writer born in Manosque in Provence. He wrote many novels including Le Hussard sur le toit, Le Serpent d’étoiles, Le Chant du monde… Jean le Bleu, an autobiographical novel published in 1932, inspired Marcel Pagnol’s film La Femme du boulanger.** Jean le Bleu, Jean Giono, éditions Grasset, 1932.

THE HERMESSENCE COLLECTION

The Hermessence collection embodies the quintessence of the perfumer’s craft and all the expertise of a house distinguished by the authenticity of its creations. Like a constantly evolving entity, where each new creation elicits the next and contributes to an ever changing whole. A succession of olfactory poems, as sober and intense as haikus – the Japanese poems that celebrate the evanescence of things in so few words but with great depth – Hermessence reveals an unusual and poetic element of nature. Raw materials sublimated, reinterpreted, creating new associations, expressed more symbolically than figuratively to form a composition somewhere between the imagination of a creator and an alchemy of pure essences. The Hermessence perfumes therefore have an “ever changing future”, they are a permanent invention that flouts repetition, superfine connections established between the skin and the perception of an intimate inner life, as well as the outside world around us. The sensory experiment they offer to share with us has no element of hesitation, it opens doors onto secret, ever-expanding, incredibly subtle territories. Any man or woman who ventures along the twists and turns of this unfamiliar path could easily meet a crucial part of themselves, full of surprises and hitherto unknown…

Hermessence collection-

Rose IkebanaOsmanthe YunnanIris UkiyoéVanille GalanteBrin de RéglisseÉpice MarineVétiver TonkaCuir d’AngeSantal MassoïaPoivre SamarcandePaprika BrasilAmbre Narguilé

The Hermessence collection is available exclusively in Hermès stores.

Cuir d’Ange will be available from October 2014

Eau de toilette-

Natural spray 100 ml (3.3 fl oz)Natural spray 200 ml (6.6 fl oz) Natural spray 100 ml (3.3 fl oz) with leather case

Collection-Set selection: 4 natural sprays 15 ml (0.5 fl oz)12 natural sprays 15 ml (0.5 fl oz)

Director of International press relations: Ina Delcourt

Director of Communications Hermès Parfums: Corinne Perez

Press relations: Anne de Lalun12-16, rue Auger, 93500 PantinTel. + 33 (0)1 49 42 35 75anne.delalun@hermes.com

Graphic design: Rachel Cazadamont (H5)Photos: Matthieu Lavanchy (extract from Jean le Bleu, by Jean Giono, éd. Grasset, 1932) An Éditions Hermès

®

publication Printed in France by Stipa© Hermès, Paris 2014.

Rose Ikebana

The contrast of rose petals and crisp rhubarb.Airy, delicate, sparkling.

“Beautiful and minimalist, the traditional Japanese art of ikebana – arranging bouquets of cut flowers and leaves using very few elements – ideally corresponded to a form of expression I could transpose in a perfume. The smell of a rose early in the morning, sprinkled with dew, delicate and light.”

Osmanthe Yunnan

A seductive game of tea, flowers and fruit.Silky, cheerful, delicious.

“During a visit to the Forbidden City in Beijing, I was captivated by an exquisite smell that led me by the tip of my nose to the Imperial Palace, where osmanthus bushes were in bloom. In November, despite their tiny size, the flowers exuded a strong scent of apricot and freesia. I imagined combining these blossoms with a tea from Yunnan, the most beautiful province in China… and the idea for the fragrance was born.”

Iris Ukiyoé

An interpretation of the unsuspected scents of iris flowers, lively and delicate.Nuanced, vivacious, unsuspected.

“I collect prints and have a mental picture of irises in the ‘floating world’ (the ukiyoé in Japanese) in the works of Hokusai or Hiroshige. They inspired me when I was writing this divertimento based on floral iris. I felt like foiling the classic approach to iris by working on the flower’s fragrances which are virtually unknown. The perfume is delicate but very much there, shifting between roses, orange blossom and mandarin, all expressed by small, impressionistic touches.”

Vanille Galante

A sensuous vanilla gently murmuring all its depth with an unexpected lightness.Airy, sensuous, paradoxical.

“I wanted to respond to this smell which could be described as lazy and repetitive with an invitation to rediscover another vanilla, an unusual, complex and paradoxical one. The fragrance of a strange flower, light as a trade wind, wafting under our noses with hints of spice, cognac and smoked wood, somewhere between petals and cigars, skin and cocoa.”

Brin de Réglisse

Invigorating lavender, dressed in matte-black liquorice.Bewitching, bold, audacious.

“A fragrance that blows cool and warm, dry and sweet. A landscape in Provence, dry earth, fragrant purple fields, the wind of the mistral… draped in a luxurious coat of mouthwatering liquorice. The fragrance opens with the pure light of stylised lavender only to move into the velvety black of liquorice. A barely perceptible breeze of hay paired with a soft whisper of orange blossom makes for a hidden surprise. Offbeat, elegant and extravagant, a dream of lavender.”

Épice Marine

Fragrance of spices cut through with the invigorating smell of the sea.Stimulating, elegant, contradictory.

“This perfume derives from my meeting with the chef Olivier Roellinger, a meeting between a man who works by his sense of taste and one who works with his nose. It is the result of our conversations and exchanges, an invitation to discover spices, rum, waxed wooden floors and smoked woods. A sort of escape inspired by the invigorating, stimulating smells of the Brittany coast. An Hermessence with pirate’s spirit.”

Vétiver Tonka

The strength of vetiver softened by delicious hazelnut.Comfortable, fresh, confident.

“The unrefined, rough, earthy scent of vetiver appealed to me. I had to appropriate it, reinvent it. I wanted a tender, enveloping, warm vetiver. What it needed was tonka bean! With its caramel, praline and blonde tobacco notes, tonka bean draped vetiver in softness and gave its woody notes a mellow roundness.”

Cuir d’Ange

The softness of leather, a promise hovering over the skin.Engaging, bewitching, hazy.

“For a long time I’d wanted to reveal the importance I attach to literature, and where it meets perfume. More importantly, I wanted to evoke my connection with the work of Jean Giono. Two words from a passage in Jean le Bleu came back to me: ‘cuir d’ange’ – angel leather. Using the smells that are my words, I wanted to write a poem to rekindle the love duet between leather and the skin. Its softness and lightness, its tension and its caress. Heliotropes and hawthorn, leather and musk.”

Santal Massoïa

The magnetic union of two milky woods, sandalwood and massoia.Supple, instinctive, sensual.

“There are linear, vertical woods like cedar, and others that are horizontal, round, supple and velvet-smooth, such as sandalwood and massoia. With this understanding in mind, I composed this enigmatic, inviting yet distant perfume of milky woods, with its unusual, pungent hints of resin and dried fruit, and familiar smells of dulce de leche and flowers.”

HERMESSENCE

One word says it all. Sense. Essence. Essential.The essence of Hermès and the soul of perfume.

Created exclusively for Hermès stores, the Hermessence collection reflects the creative freedom, the unique poetry and the consummate rigour of Hermès.

Thanks to the diverse creations of Jean-Claude Ellena, the in-house perfumer, the Hermessence collection offers women and men a generous freedom of choice.

Poivre Samarcande

Burning pepper rounded with mellow wood.Vibrant, caressing, intriguing.

“A massive, beautiful oak tree once grew in front of my house, blocking our view of the Mediterranean. Eventually, it grew ill and was felled. The peppery, musky, slightly smoky scent of the cut wood etched itself in my memory. The soul of the old oak, mixed with pepper, lives on in this fragrance. The name Samarcande is an homage to the city through which spice caravans once passed on their way from East to West.”

Paprika Brasil

The ravaging power of paprika and brasil wood, tempered by iris.Seductive, passionate, unexpected.

“A local tinctorial wood once widely used in Europe to colour fabrics red, ‘brasil wood’ gave its name to the country. With its power of suggestion, ‘bois de braise’ sparked my imagination and I chose paprika, a Brazilian pepper, to illustrate it. By mixing and matching, and using an iris-reseda-pepper association, I recreated its scent, which is more secretive and discreet than its taste.”

Ambre Narguilé

Amber honey with swirls of smoke from the East.Savoury, sensual, enveloping.

“Amber, the Western expression of Eastern fragrances, has a warm, sensual, enveloping, almost carnal smell. I wanted to imbue this idea of amber with the memory of the East I love by recreating the ambiance of those lively places where tobacco – blended with the smells of fruit, honey and spices – is smoked in narguilés, or water pipes, and where swirls of smoke diffuse a sweet sense of intoxication.”

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Cabris, 27th February 2014

The same is true of novels and perfumes. Both hover beyond time, leaving us with the slight but striking imprint of their memory long afterwards.

The twelfth Hermessence reveals the importance I attach to literature, and where it meets perfume and, more crucially, the significance of the author, in whom I recognize myself.

When, some ten years ago, I became part of Hermès, a house of craftsmen and artists, a passage from Jean Giono’s Jean le Bleu, came back to me: “I remember my father’s workshop. I cannot walk past a cobbler’s shop without thinking my father is still alive, somewhere beyond this world, sitting at a last with his blue apron, his awl, his stretching pliers and his burnisher, busy making shoes in angel leather for some god with a thousand feet…”

…in angel leather for some god with a thousand feet. In that one phrase Jean Giono described Hermès. Angel leather, cuir d’ange, those two words have always been in the back of my mind. Two words, two smells: the smell of angels, the smell of leather, and already the name of a perfume. It would take me ten years to write it as a poem. My words are smells, and ten years is nothing when you want to change the way we usually see things, or I should say smell things.

From those two words the premise of a perfume was born, and it would be a far cry from Russian leather whose resinous smell, closely connected to the smell of soot and borrowed from military boots and travelling trunks, seduced women in the 1920s. Cuir d’ange, an oxymoron that fosters desires. The idea was born: a perfume that would smell like light, supple leather, a leather to clothe and shoe a winged god.

I have to admit I don’t know how the gods or the angels smell. But angels play a part at Hermès. There are four of them on the roof garden on the faubourg Saint-Honoré, and they are cherubim (I looked into it) whose role is to communicate the word of god. It is clear then that this is the word of the god Hermès. I read somewhere that the gods don’t smell good, but the text didn’t mention angels, it’s a question of hierarchy. Still, the idea tickled me, particularly as angels hide themselves, and their smell would allow me to find them. But I don’t believe it, how could you win over nations, the world, the universe if you don’t smell good. You only have to look at the food they are offered to see that the idea is unrealistic; they are given offerings of the most beautiful fruit, the finest fish, the best meats, not to mention gold, because everyone knows money has a smell all its own. And, when you take into account the fact that the skin distils the smell of the food they have shared, then it seems most unlikely they could smell anything but good. An-gels are in the image of gods, so they should be good and smell wonderful. I’ve put that in the conditional because – like you, I imagine – I’ve never met them.

Having talked about angels, I need to move on to leathers. When I first came to Hermès, I asked to visit the leather stores, an Ali Baba’s cave where the treasures of the house are kept. And I don’t mean gold or silver but skins. Skin is more precious than gold because we deck it out in jewels and clothe it with our imagination. These skins are arranged by characteristics and colour. I saw, touched and smelled the most beautiful leather and even angel leathers that weighed only a few grams in my hand; they were so fine, so soft that I hardly dared touch them. They were only suited to delicate white hands, angel’s hands. They were tanned with natural tannins so they smelled of violets, narcissi, irises, saintly smells. I reached for my notebook and wrote down the smells. I had the leathers in my hand, the smells inside my head, an angel flew overhead…

Jean-Claude Ellena