The launch of Maison Margiela’s Scentsorium collection marks the cult brand’s first foray into fragrance after years of winning over fans with its Artisanal collection. a scent inspired by time and place. According to the brand, the six scents of the collection are made with ‘surgical sensoriality’, a way of saying that the perfumes of the maison are inspired by the creation of its clothes: the materials are stripped back or damaged, with accents added on top to increase the definition.
It’s a style that creates a tension between raw elements and refined design, a combination that is typically Margiela and, like the brand’s fashion, will attract customers who like products with a bent concept. That’s not to say that these are hard to wear fragrances, but they are they niche – each fragrance is inspired by a specific and sometimes unusual feeling (for example ‘the tension between desire and sensuality’), with an amazing harmony of the metal running through each one.
(Image credit: Maison Margiela)
The collection took three years to develop, and Maison Margiela’s former creative director, John Galliano, led the conception and development of the Scentsorium collection by creating its haute couture style. After Galliano’s departure, current creative director Glenn Martens stepped in and contributed to the design of the collection.
During its evolution, the line has undergone “many changes”, according to Sandrine Groslier, global president of Luxe Fragrance Brands at L’Oréal. ‘We don’t limit ourselves to luxury – we innovate until we achieve the most unique juice. Some chapters required more than 70 translations. Chapter six [Fit of Folly’s] futuristic patchouli alone took 18 months. We were constantly pushing suppliers, creating molecules, separating materials. When you cultivate true luxury, you replicate absolute perfection. The number doesn’t matter – it’s just the change achieved.’
Below, we break down the fragrances and provide an honest review of each.
Maison Margiela’s Scentsorium Collection
The light of silence
This is the lightest scent in the collection and is very close to a skin scent. Its blend of neroli flower, fig and musky suede creates a sweet, powdery quality often associated with white flowers, but is suffused with a certain metallic quality that ties in with metal or chrome. In the first notes we made for perfumes (even before we read the brand’s descriptions), we wrote down ‘knives and flowers’ – appropriate, perhaps, for a scent intended to evoke ‘a feeling of hope in a moment of doubt.’
Quiet Anger
The most exciting fragrance from Maison Margiela’s classic collection is ‘Jazz Club’, a boozy, smoky blend inspired by the smell of sipping cocktails on leather sofas. One way to think of Silent Fury is as an accurate, and clever, representation of what a jazz band might smell like: the metallic sound of sweat and metal instruments, the muffled smell of spicy perfumes, leather jackets and the desperation of cigarettes stuck to synthetic fabrics.
Pain and Fear
Anguish and Awe are probably the biggest crowd pleasers from the collection. A sweet flower infused with sweet, sweet honey, it’s the kind of fragrance that conjures up the word ‘expensive’. Inspired by the ‘tension between desire and sensuality’, the fragrance aims to be like a black rose, with the first part of its dark, sweet qualities finally turning into a lighter, more noticeable one.
Tender Defiance
This scent is a mix of booze, incense and smoke that, despite the darkness of its ingredients, has a candy-like quality that made us write the word ‘pink’ in our review. The explanation for this may be based on the refined treatment of liquorice and the gentle heat of the resin, which creates a wonderful metallic taste. If Anguish and Awe were inspired by a black rose, Tender Defiance is a dark red – still dramatic and romantic, but a little on the lighter side.
Enjoy Despair
This is one of the best fragrances in the collection. Inspired by the feeling of joy, the fragrance takes the experimental approach of cypriol and saffron by testing the heat of distillation to provide new ingredients. The green, grassy quality of cypriol is enhanced and infused with saffron cream for a clean and warm scent with a slightly sweet dry down.
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