In May the Louis Vuitton house will unveil its first Louis Vuitton men’s fragrance range, which features five scents that don’t directly target men (you won’t see any Pour Homme inscriptions on the sleek bottles designed by Marc Newson) but, in the words of master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, “are perfumes that a woman, or a man, would love to smell on a man”.
The Louis Vuitton men’s Fragrance bottles for Louis Vuitton’s new men’s fragrances, created by designer Marc Newson, feature the same glass designs as the house’s other perfumes, with a distinctive interlaced LV logo found on the cap.
The five Louis Vuitton men’s Fragrance scents include Au Hasard, a subtle blend of ingredients such as sandalwood and cardamom, which will please the most adventurous types, or l’Immensité, a zesty scent inspired by the pickled ginger served at sushi restaurants.
“Men are becoming more sophisticated,”
says fourth-generation perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud.
“In the same way they buy interesting shoes and clothes now they do it with perfumes. Those who don’t know still go for the sporty, commercial fragrances, but now more men are not afraid of trying new things and are attracted to what you would have considered feminine fragrances in the past.
“Men worldwide want to achieve sophistication and find a perfume that will be their ambassador in their social life and with lovers.”
“Perfume is not a commodity,” Belletrud says. “It’s full of emotions, like a dress or a pair of shoes, and addresses the deepest side of your personality because our choice of perfume is based on memory, which is built from when you’re very young.”
FRAGRANCE NOTES
Orage — “The almighty nature of the elements” — captures nature’s raw force in a woody fragrance that mixes the “elegance of iris with a patchouli heart.” The scent ends on a gentle, musky note with hints of bergamot and the buried roots of Javanese vetiver.
L’Immesité — described as “an infinite inner journey” — is a sharp-edged concentration of freshness that blends “the bitterness of grapefruit with ginger, labdanum and an overdose of ambroxan, an addictive and sensual amber note.”
Sur La Route — “a life path, a lesson in self” — is a versatile scent that blends Calabrian citrus, cedar, lemon, bergamot and Peruvian balsam, finished off with a “few blades of freshly cut grass that give the perfume its raw, green accent.”
Nouveau Monde — “an homage to explorers” — is inspired by Mayan chocolate in Guatemala and the suave side of cocoa. “The leathery sent of oud mingles with cocoa and incense, all the while granting the saffron enough space to express its energy.”
Au Hasard — “a taste for risk” — embodies the olfactory qualities of the now-unattainable Indian sandalwood, fused with “the spicy vibrations of cardamom mix” and the fruity radiance of ambrette.
