After the Christian Lacroix couture show (maybe his last because the house is bankrupt) the French minister of culture Frédéric Mitterrand said that the disappearance of this couture house would be a "cultural disaster". He also expressed his desire to contribute with solutions to this problem.
But, if the French Minister of Culture is interested in the Couture why shouldn't he be concerned by the fragrances, or … let's say some of them, still on the market and that are also an artistic heritage, though not recognized. In this case I speak of course about the reformulations that took place and that in some cases were for me a cultural genocide. The cultural disaster in the couture is also the cultural disaster that has happened in France in the past 10 years when some masterpieces were simply replaced with "replicas" - pale modern versions. It's like replacing some paintings in the Louvre with some copies (or digital images) and letting the people believe they were original. The irony, maybe unknonw to Mr. Mitterrand, is that while Couture brought the prestigious image to France, fragrances were bringing both prestige and money.
Following what was said during the fashion week interviews Dior house is maybe the unique case where what Dior says for the fashion is completely undermined by what Dior does in the fragrance division. Speaking about the tradition, savoir faire and all the precious words we like to hear I could not stop thinking that Bernard Arnault was acting more like a politician. Reading the interviews and the cultural ambitions, and knowing on the other hand how Dior has mutilated Diorissimo and Miss Dior I cannot stop wondering about the differences between words and facts.
The idea of cultural disaster expressed by Frédéric Mitterrand and his desire to find solution for couture that is seen as an important element to French culture could have more effects in the future for the fragrances. Or let us hope that the ecuation will change.
Fragrances are not part of the French culture in France, not officially. But a pressure to consider some houses or some XXth century fragrances as part of the cultural heritage would have an enormous impact.
In fact, as I expressed it already in some very old posts, the moment when some fragrances will be officially art, the face of the industry will change for ever. First, it is a new dimension for the luxury. You can sell some perfumes more expensive not because they have a golden bottle but because they are art. Then, some perfumes could enter in a new tax dimension - selling consumer goods and selling art is rather different in terms of taxes (including their production). With Tabac Blond as a "important cultural artifact" Caron can enter the universe of subventions like any other small company that produces important products for the culture and has support from the state. Maybe the last and more important for us is that you cannot alter a great fragrance under any pretext (I heard so many justifications for the reformulations and none as really true). Many brand owners think today that is very normal to change / twist a perfume to fit the new fashions or tastes of the public, to update things to the desires of the contemporary consumer. But, if you place that item in a cultural aura, everything will change. You do not redecorate Louvre, place HD everywhere and lower the intellectual level of the descriptions just to fit the public. For this reason, Tabac Blond should be what it was in the original formula and if this is not possible, as happens also with lost/destroyed works of art, you should be able to buy a reproduction or the closest restitution. There is now a huge Rembrandt retrospective with all his works and many lost/damaged works that were restored through digital technique. Many "inventions" in art could be brought into the fragrance universe.
There are many beautiful and good things that can be done in the fragrance world, but people should see beyond accounts and bureaucracy. I do hope that one day some perfumes like Tabac Blond would be considered "historic monuments" and they would be treated with the same care and devotion as a gothic cathedral. For the same reason I think that the first modern brand to enter that new cultural approach is Serge Lutens
But, if the French Minister of Culture is interested in the Couture why shouldn't he be concerned by the fragrances, or … let's say some of them, still on the market and that are also an artistic heritage, though not recognized. In this case I speak of course about the reformulations that took place and that in some cases were for me a cultural genocide. The cultural disaster in the couture is also the cultural disaster that has happened in France in the past 10 years when some masterpieces were simply replaced with "replicas" - pale modern versions. It's like replacing some paintings in the Louvre with some copies (or digital images) and letting the people believe they were original. The irony, maybe unknonw to Mr. Mitterrand, is that while Couture brought the prestigious image to France, fragrances were bringing both prestige and money.
Following what was said during the fashion week interviews Dior house is maybe the unique case where what Dior says for the fashion is completely undermined by what Dior does in the fragrance division. Speaking about the tradition, savoir faire and all the precious words we like to hear I could not stop thinking that Bernard Arnault was acting more like a politician. Reading the interviews and the cultural ambitions, and knowing on the other hand how Dior has mutilated Diorissimo and Miss Dior I cannot stop wondering about the differences between words and facts.
The idea of cultural disaster expressed by Frédéric Mitterrand and his desire to find solution for couture that is seen as an important element to French culture could have more effects in the future for the fragrances. Or let us hope that the ecuation will change.
Fragrances are not part of the French culture in France, not officially. But a pressure to consider some houses or some XXth century fragrances as part of the cultural heritage would have an enormous impact.
In fact, as I expressed it already in some very old posts, the moment when some fragrances will be officially art, the face of the industry will change for ever. First, it is a new dimension for the luxury. You can sell some perfumes more expensive not because they have a golden bottle but because they are art. Then, some perfumes could enter in a new tax dimension - selling consumer goods and selling art is rather different in terms of taxes (including their production). With Tabac Blond as a "important cultural artifact" Caron can enter the universe of subventions like any other small company that produces important products for the culture and has support from the state. Maybe the last and more important for us is that you cannot alter a great fragrance under any pretext (I heard so many justifications for the reformulations and none as really true). Many brand owners think today that is very normal to change / twist a perfume to fit the new fashions or tastes of the public, to update things to the desires of the contemporary consumer. But, if you place that item in a cultural aura, everything will change. You do not redecorate Louvre, place HD everywhere and lower the intellectual level of the descriptions just to fit the public. For this reason, Tabac Blond should be what it was in the original formula and if this is not possible, as happens also with lost/destroyed works of art, you should be able to buy a reproduction or the closest restitution. There is now a huge Rembrandt retrospective with all his works and many lost/damaged works that were restored through digital technique. Many "inventions" in art could be brought into the fragrance universe.
There are many beautiful and good things that can be done in the fragrance world, but people should see beyond accounts and bureaucracy. I do hope that one day some perfumes like Tabac Blond would be considered "historic monuments" and they would be treated with the same care and devotion as a gothic cathedral. For the same reason I think that the first modern brand to enter that new cultural approach is Serge Lutens
(and maybe it could be a clever strategy than re formulating even under the guidance of the Master - for those who do not know Paris at Palais Royal, there are about 30 meters between SL and Le Ministère de la Culture).
Photo - Le Roi Soleil - Schiaparelli bottle after Salvador Dali, Life photo late 40's
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
