Hedi Slimane created the Celine Haute Parfumerie Collection drawing its know-how from French High Parfumerie in keeping with the tradition of the “Couturier Parfumeur”. The collection comprises 11 perfumes, 2 of which will be coming out during 2020. All the perfumes are both feminine and masculine and have a powdery olfactory signature highly prized by the couturier since his beginning as a perfumer at Maison Christian Dior in 2004. The olfactory project relies on the memory of emotions, on a specific memory or the narrative of Hedi Slimane. The Parisian spirit, pronounced classism and dissonant sophistication are at the core of this olfactory project. There is only one exception, Eau de Californie which pays tribute to the couturier’s Californian period.

THE “HAUTE PARFUMERIE” COLLECTION

CREATED BY HEDI SLIMANE, AUTHOR OF THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF PERFUMES MAISON CHRISTIAN DIOR IN 2004, THE CELINE PERFUME COLLECTION DRAWS ITS KNOW-HOW FROM FRENCH HIGH PERFUMERY, IN KEEPING WITH THE TRADITION OF THE ‘COUTURIER PARFUMEUR’.

THE CELINE HAUTE PARFUMERIE COLLECTION IS COMPRISED OF 11 PERFUMES, NINE OF WHICH WILL BE COMING OUT IN FALL 2019 AND TWO OTHERS DURING 2020.

THE 11 NAMES CHOSEN BY HEDI SLIMANE FOR EACH PERFUME STEM FROM THE COUTURIER’S OLFACTORY JOURNAL.

DAY:

PARADE
SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS
DANS PARIS
COLOGNE FRANÇAISE
LA PEAU NUE
BOIS DORMANT ( 2020 )
RIMBAUD ( 2020 )
EAU DE CALIFORNIE

EVENING:

BLACK TIE
REPTILE
NIGHTCLUBBING

NATURALLY, THE 11 CELINE PERFUMES MAY BE WORN EQUALLY FOR DAY OR FOR EVENING.

MASCULINE - FEMININE

BY QUESTIONING FOR OVER MORE THAN 20 YEARS THE SOCIETAL NOTION OF GENDER IN HIS COLLECTIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS, HEDI SLIMANE IS CLOSELY AND CULTURALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ADVENT OF A MASCULINE-FEMININE STYLE IN BOTH FASHION AND PHOTOGRAPHY AND, MORE PARTICULARLY, WITH AN ANDROGYNOUS DEFINITION OF MASCULINITY.

CONSEQUENTLY, THE CELINE HAUTE PARFUMERIE COLLECTION RECAPTURES THE COUTURIER’S STYLISTIC CODES.

THE FACETED ACCORDS AND COMPOSITIONS IN THE COLLECTION DELIBERATELY MAKE NO DISTINCTION OR SEPARATION BETWEEN TRADITIONAL MASCULINE AND FEMININE NOTES.
THEY HARMONIZE OR BLEND TOGETHER IN A CONTINUOUS QUESTIONING OF MODERNITY AND IDENTITIES.

THE ESSENCE OF PARIS, THE FRENCH SPIRIT

THE PARISIAN SPIRIT, PRONOUNCED CLASSICISM AND DISSONANT SOPHISTICATION ARE AT THE CORE OF THIS OLFACTORY PROJECT. FOR HEDI SLIMANE, ONCE AGAIN IT IS ABOUT RAISING THE QUESTION OF FRENCH TASTE AND ITS MEANING WITHIN OUR ERA. THE CELINE HAUTE PARFUMERIE COLLECTION RESTATES AND REVISITS A TRADITION, A STYLE AND CULTURAL ROOTS BUT IN A REVERSE SENSE. FROM AN OLFACTORY PERSPECTIVE, IT TRANSPOSES AN ALLURE, A TONE AND THE NOTION OF TIMELESS WEAR SO DEARLY VALUED BY THE COUTURIER. IN OTHER RESPECTS, IT TAKES ON A PERSONAL AND UNIVERSAL DIMENSION WHERE THE REASSURANCE, THE MEMORY AND THE EMOTION OF A PERFUME RESONATE WITHIN EVERYONE.

THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION, EAU DE CALIFORNIE IS HEDI SLIMANE’S TRIBUTE TO HIS CALIFORNIAN PERIOD.

THE JOURNAL OF A COUTURIER

THE STARTING POINT AND THE ROOT OF THE COLLECTION’S CREATION IS HEDI SLIMANE’S OLFACTORY JOURNAL, WHERE EACH PERFUME RELIES ON THE MEMORY OF EMOTIONS, ON A SPECIFIC MEMORY OR THE NARRATIVE OF THE COUTURIER.

HENCE, THERE IS A PERSONAL AND SENTIMENTAL CHARACTER AT THE HEART OF THE PROJECT AND HEDI SLIMANE’S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PERFUMERS. IN AN ONGOING DIALOGUE, THE PERFUMERS HAVE FORMULATED HEDI SLIMANE’S VISION AND INSPIRATIONS. THROUGH THEIR NAMES AND COMPOSITIONS, THESE PERFUMES DISTILL THE REMINISCENCES OF A MOMENT, A PLACE OR PEOPLE DEAR TO THE COUTURIER.

HEDI SLIMANE’S POWDERY OLFACTORY SIGNATURE

ALL THE PERFUMES ARE LINKED TOGETHER BY ONE SINGULAR OLFACTORY IMPRINT. A POWDERY NOTE, HIGHLY PRIZED BY THE COUTURIER SINCE HIS BEGINNINGS AS A PERFUMER, DOMINATES THE COLLECTION, SHADING THE SINGULAR FEATURES OF EACH COMPOSITION.

LIKE A DIAPHANOUS VEIL PLACED OVER THE SKIN, THIS POWDERY FILTER PROVIDES HEDI SLIMANE’S 11 CREATIONS WITH AN ENVELOPING AND SOPHISTICATED PATINA AND IS PROLONGED BY THE ELEGANCE OF A COUTURE RESIDUAL TRAIL, CAPTURING A FLEETING MEMORY AND EMOTION AS IT WAFTS BY.

THE FACETED COMPOSITIONS TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER THE MATERIALS

NATURAL HIGH-QUALITY MATERIALS HARMONIZE TOGETHER AT THE HEART OF EACH FRAGRANCE.
THEY ARE DRESSED UP IN COMPLEX AND SOPHISTICATED COMPOSITIONS AND ACCORDS. HEDI SLIMANE WISHED TO RETURN TO A MUCH MORE FACETED TYPE OF FRENCH PERFUMERY, BOTH INDEFINABLE AND SINGULAR, TO TREAT IN A REVERSE SENSE THE FASHION FOR SHORT AND TONAL COMPOSITIONS AROUND ONE SINGLE MATERIAL.

ALL OF THE PERFUMES ARE SIGNED BY EMBLEMATIC NOTES FROM FRENCH PERFUMERY IN THE 60S AND 70S, IN PARTICULAR TREE MOSS, IRIS, ROSE OR A CHYPRE ACCORD. THEY ARE THE TIMELESS MARKERS OF A PARISIAN TONE AND COUTURE ROOTS.

THE BOTTLE

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 BODY, BY WORKING ON THE LUXURIOUS WEIGHT OF GLASS AND 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. AN AESTHETIC INHERITED FROM LATE 17TH CENTURY CLASSICISM, WHOSE DISTINCTIVE MINIMALISM IMBUES THE BOTTLE WITH THE MODERNITY OF ART DECO: SPARE, TAUT LINES, A TOUCH OF BLACK LACQUER AND TRANSPARENT GLASS WHOSE WORKMANSHIP AND AMBER-GOLD REFLECTIONS 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” MOLDINGS. THEY ARE INSPIRED BY THE WOODWORK PANELING IN THE HÔTEL COLBERT DE TORCY WHERE THE CELINE ATELIERS ARE HOUSED AT 16, RUE VIVIENNE IN PARIS.

THE MAISON’S EMBLEM, THE “TRIOMPHE” IS ENGRAVED ON THE TOP OF THE CAP. IT WAS CHOSEN BY ITS FOUNDER, CÉLINE VIPIANA WHO, ONE DAY IN 1971, SAW HER SPLIT INITIAL C DESIGNED IN THE LINKS CINCHING THE “ARC DE TRIOMPHE”. IT COMES TO COMPLETE THIS BOTTLE’S SENSE OF BELONGING TO THE HISTORY OF THE COUTURE HOUSE.