Celine’s New Opus From The Haute Parfumerie Collection: Bois Dormant

CREATED BY HEDI SLIMANE, BOIS DORMANT IS THE NEW OPUS FROM THE HAUTE PARFUMERIE COLLECTION THAT DEBUTED IN 2019. IT JOINS THE NINE PERFUMES CONCEIVED FOR THE LAUNCH, IN ADDITION TO RIMBAUD FROM 2021. THE SERIES UPHOLDS THE TRADITION OF THE “COUTURIER PERFUMER” AND SPEAKS TO THE EXCELLENCE OF FRENCH HAUTE PARFUMERIE.

THE COLLECTION COMPRISES 11 CREATIONS, WITH BOIS DORMANT ENTERING INTO THE DAY SERIES:

• FOR DAY
  

PARADE
SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS
DANS PARIS
COLOGNE FRANÇAISE
LA PEAU NUE
RIMBAUD
BOIS DORMANT
EAU DE CALIFORNIE

• FOR EVENING
  

BLACK TIE
REPTILE
NIGHTCLUBBING

HEDI SLIMANE, COUTURIER AND TAILLEUR

THE SPIRIT OF COUTURE, THE NOTION OF ALLURE, AND TIMELESS ELEGANCE ARE AT THE HEART OF THIS NEW PROJECT. THESE THEMES WERE ALREADY EMBEDDED IN PARADE AND THE CONSTANT RITUAL OF REPRESENTATION; OR WITH REPTILE AND THE MAGNETIC RADIANCE OF WHAT ROCK STARS WEAR ON STAGE. AND EVEN WITH BLACK TIE AND THE OBSESSION WITH THE SHARP LINE OF A PERFECTLY CONSTRUCTED TUXEDO.

WITH BOIS DORMANT, CREATED AS THE DAYTIME PAIRING TO BLACK TIE, ANOTHER DIMENSION HAS EMERGED IN PERFUME. HERE, HEDI SLIMANE TRANSPOSES HIS MÉTIER AS COUTURIER AND TAILLEUR, SUCH THAT THE CREATION EXPRESSES THE AUTHENTICITY AND KNOW-HOW OF A MAISON WHERE DISCREET AND LUXURIOUS COMFORT MEET THE ARCHITECTURAL CLASSICISM OF A MASCULINE-FEMININE WARDROBE.

“PARIS HAS MAINTAINED A SPECIFICITY – A RESOLUTE CHIC – REGARDING “THE HAND”. BEYOND THE VIRTUOSITY OF THE ATELIERS, THIS KNOWHOW CORRESPONDS TO A SENSIBILITY, A WAY OF WORKING, AN INTELLIGENCE THAT COMES THROUGH IN A PATTERN, A DISTINCTIVE KIND OF FEELING THAT CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN PARIS,” HEDI SLIMANE.

A NEW CHAPTER OF THE OLFACTORY JOURNAL

LIKE THE PREVIOUS CREATIONS FROM THE COLLECTION, BOIS DORMANT DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM HEDI SLIMANE’S OLFACTIVE JOURNAL. FOR THIS NEW CHAPTER, THE COUTURIER RETURNS TO A PERSONAL MEMORY. AT 19, HE SEARCHED LONDON FOR SECOND-HAND SUITS FROM SAVILE ROW WITH THEIR FLAWLESS AND LEGENDARY CUTS. THIS EXPERIENCE AND ALONG WITH OTHERS, LED HIM TO BECOME BOTH A COUTURIER AND A TAILLEUR. IT SPARKED A CALLING IGNITED BY PASSION AS ASPIRATION – AND IT MARKED HIS PERMANENT PURSUIT OF TIMELESS ELEGANCE AND THE PERFECT LINE.

BEYOND THIS PERSONAL MEMORY, THERE IS A BROADER EVOCATION OF YOUTH THAT EMERGES: THROUGH THE CLOTHES AND THEIR CODES; HOW THEY CONTRIBUTE TO A CERTAIN SELF-AWARENESS; THE DESIRE FOR A FIRST JACKET AND THE SEARCH FOR AN ALLURE THAT ESTABLISHES THE CONTOURS OF AN IDENTITY IN WHICH ONE FEELS GOOD.

FOR THIS DOUBLE EVOCATION, HEDI SLIMANE ENVISIONED A PERFUME THAT SPEAKS TO THE EASE AND SPIRIT OF HIS DOUBLE-BREASTED BLAZERS IN A FABRIC THAT HE CHERISHES: ENGLISH FLANNEL. A DELICATE, POWDERY WOOD INFUSED WITH THE LIGHTNESS OF A COLOGNE THAT INVITES THE FEELING OF MOVEMENT AND THE COMFORT OF A WARM SILLAGE.

THE COUTURIER ALSO ESTABLISHED AN AUDIO-INSPIRED LAYER TO CONVEY THIS SENSATION: OLFACTIVE ACCORDS WITH VELVETY AND SMOOTH TONES SIGNALLED QUIETLY, LIKE THE AUTHENTIC AND SUBTLE SOUNDS OF A FIRST-PRESS VINYL RECORD.

A NEO-CLASSICAL, STRUCTURED, AND COMFORTING COMPOSITION

FOR HEDI SLIMANE, THE REALISATION OF BOTH A PERFUME AND A PIECE OF CLOTHING BELONG TO THE SAME VISION AND A SIMILAR MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT. A PERMANENT DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TAILLEUR ATELIER AND THE CREATIVE STUDIO ECHOES THE UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN A COUTURIER AND THE PERFUMERS. THE SAME RIGOUR, THE SAME CLOSENESS TO ACHIEVE THE CORRECT FORM WHEREBY MODERNITY ALIGNS WITH A NEOCLASSICAL CHIC. A PERFECTLY STRUCTURED, DOUBLE BREASTED JACKET THAT DOES NOT HINDER MOVEMENT; A COMPOSITION THAT ESTABLISHES ITS PRESENCE BY AN ELEGANT, TIMELESS, AND COMFORTING SILLAGE.

IT’S THIS SILLAGE THAT GIVES THE SENSE OF ‘DRESS’ AND ‘FIT’ TO A PERFUME. AS WITH COUTURE, IT REQUIRES A MASTERY, A KNOW-HOW THAT IS AT ONCE TECHNICAL AND TRADITIONAL THAT CAN BE FOUND IN THE TAILLEUR ATELIERS. SUCH CREATION ENTRUSTS TASTE TO ‘OLD-FASHIONED’ ACCORDS THAT FAVOUR LONGEVITY OVER STRENGTH WHILE ALLOWING THE COMPOSITION TO BREATHE. WHEN WORN, THE IMPRESSION OF AUTHENTICITY – A WARM AND INTIMATE PATINA AS THOUGH LISTENING TO AN ACOUSTIC TRACK PLAYED ON VINYL.

IN BOIS DORMANT, THIS SINGULAR SILLAGE COMPRISES AN ENVELOPING ACCORD THAT COMBINES POWDERY ACCENTS WITH IRIS BUTTER. IT CONJURES THE LUXURIOUS COMFORT OF ENGLISH FLANNEL WHILE EXTENDING THE WOODY STRUCTURE PROVIDED BY CEDAR AND VETIVER. WITH LIGHTNESS AND FLUIDITY, THE DISCREET COLOGNE IS UNDERPINNED BY BERGAMOT AND JUNIPER FOR A DELICATELY BITTER TOUCH.

LE FLACON

THE RECTANGULAR BOTTLE DESIGNED BY HEDI SLIMANE FOR CELINE IS IN KEEPING WITH THE GREAT TRADITION OF FRENCH GLASSMAKING. THE COUTURIER WISHED TO GIVE THE BOTTLE GREATER SUBSTANCE BY DEVELOPING THE LUXURIOUS WEIGHT OF THE GLASS AS WELL AS THE BLACK LACQUER.

THE BOTTLE FOR THE CELINE HAUTE PARFUMERIE COLLECTION IS DECORATED ON TWO SIDES WITH SHARP-EDGED FLUTING AND TOPPED WITH A FACETED BLACK LACQUERED CAP. THE AESTHETIC IS INHERITED FROM LATE 17TH-CENTURY CLASSICISM TRANSLATED WITH A DISTINCTIVE MINIMALISM THAT IMBUES THE BOTTLE WITH THE MODERNITY OF ART DECO. THROUGH FINE WORKMANSHIP, THE SPARE, EXACT LINES OF TRANSPARENT GLASS REVEAL AMBER-GOLD REFLECTIONS THAT HIGHLIGHT THE NUANCES OF EACH PERFUME. THE BOX IS ADORNED IN PAPER WITH A “GRAIN DE POUDRE” FEEL AND EMBOSSING THAT RECREATES THE EFFECT OF THE “GRAND SIÈCLE” MOULDINGS INSPIRED BY THE WOODWORK PANELLING OF THE CELINE ATELIERS AT THE HÔTEL COLBERT DE TORCY AT 16, RUE VIVIENNE IN PARIS. ENGRAVED ON THE TOP OF THE CAP IS THE MAISON’S EMBLEM, THE “TRIOMPHE”, THAT WAS CHOSEN IN 1971 BY FOUNDER CÉLINE VIPIANA, WHO SAW HER FIRST INITIAL DOUBLED WITHIN THE LINKS THAT ENCIRCLED THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE. IN THIS WAY, THE BOTTLE IS FIRMLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE HISTORY OF THE COUTURE HOUSE.