John Galliano’s new perfume!

John Galliano, bad-boy, rock-star fashion designer is putting his name on a perfume.  Like many perfumes, it is inspired by a memory of a particular place and time.  This time was no doubt  crucial to his formative fashion sense and later successful career.  It is available at Harrods for £42.  I’m guessing it’s a scent that can be worn by men or women.

Are you a fan of Galliano’s fashions?  Will you flock to buy the scent? It certainly sounds interesting.

In fact, it’s a theatrical, but not a melodramatic scent. A powdery mix of iris, rose and violet, with a nostalgic hint of old make-up compacts and dusty dressing tables. Galliano described the ideas behind the perfume whilst wandering round his studio ( a former doll factory complete with bamboo garden.) He said it captured the smell of powder and greasepaint at the National Theatre where he worked while a student at Saint Martin’s College, as well as the slightly singed, metallic odour in the atelier caused by ironing linen. The nose behind the scent, Christine Nagel, recreated this steam sensation using a molecule called sclarene, the powdery effect is suggested by iris, violet and aldehydes, the latter of which also suggests effervescence ( perhaps evoking the ubiquitous fashion party champagne.) White rose, patchouli and yes incense, also feature. Unlike in the typical pyramid formation of many perfumes, these elements intermingle as a melange, rather like the eclectic inspirations behind Galliano’s clothing collections.

Source: UK Independent