Maison Crivelli, Byredo Mumbai Noise, Vintage Dior Fahrenheit – Skin Time January 2022

Maison Crivelli

One of the advantages of coming to a brand late is that you can experience its output as a whole, in the olfactory equivalent of a single sitting. This total immersion (which, depending on the number of fragrances in question, can take anything from a few days to a couple of weeks) arguably makes it easier to chart the development of the house’s aesthetics: to draw conclusions about whether its style has evolved in any way. Certainly, in the case of Maison Crivelli*, the ‘binge sniff’ mode of evaluation would seem to suggest that there’s been a marked creative shift in the brand since its first releases.

In 2018, Crivelli launched with Bois Datchai (Dorothee Piot), Fleur Diamantine (Bertrand Duchaufour), Rose Saltifolia (Stephanie Bakouche) and Santal Volcanique (Richard Ibanez). With the possible exception of the latter, the debut releases spoke of a desire to explore intriguing ideas while avoiding overblown theatrics. Datchai pierced woods with studs of cinnamon and blackcurrant. Saltifolia made a game attempt at placing a rose+pepper combo against salty marine notes. Diamantine showcased Duchaufour’s ability to evoke horizon-less landscapes, placing an intriguing green saffron note against an unending desert of ice.

And then, something switched. With their over-reliance on 80s-inflected citrus-woody notes, 2019’s Absinthe Boreale (Nathalie Feisthauer) and Citrus Batikanga (Duchaufour) appeared to reflect a loss of courage: a decision to pander to familiarity and predictability. Cut to 2021, and things became safer still: Lys Solaberg (Feisthauer) and Hibiscus Mahajad (Quentin Bisch) offered little more than fruity, sugary florals over thick, shampoo musks.

There will always be a few trend-buckers. Sure enough, in 2021, the brand also gave us Osmanthe Kodoshan (Bakouche): a successfully spicy take on the tea-and-leather personality of osmanthus. But the direction of travel currently seems to be away from the promise displayed four years ago by brand owner and creative director, Thibaud Crivelli. Perhaps the upcoming Patchouli Magnetik (Bisch) will steer us towards more rewarding territories. 

Byredo Mumbai Noise

There could be no more rewarding a territory on the planet than the lifeblood-hued, lightning bolt of energy that is Mumbai. Indeed, ‘rewarding’ doesn’t even begin to capture the city’s unique magic. Frenetic, effervescent, confrontational, heartwarming, troubling, dazzling and provocative… it is a place unlike any other. Such a shame, then, that Byredo chose to pay homage to it with a composition that feels as authentic as a microwave pack of Tesco chicken vindaloo.

Mumbai Noise** (Jerome Epinette) is everything an ‘India’ scent shouldn’t be: a predictable melange of spices followed by a disappointingly heavy-handed use of synthetic sandalwood materials. Any noise it does make is little more than an echo of the vastly superior and more convincing Nasomatto Black Afgano. I have no objection to brands from anywhere in the world drawing inspiration from any other part of the world (my personal view is that accusations of cultural appropriation can sometimes be limiting and reductive) but when a major world city is name-checked for what appears to be no more than ‘exotic’ value, then my patience wears thin.

Vintage Dior Fahrenheit
and Comme Des Garcons Blackpepper

Speaking of patience, how many of you remember a time when brands actually rewarded us for the forbearance we displayed while waiting for new releases? At the moment, I’m thinking particularly of Dior and its 80s and early 90s output. Poison, Jules, Eau Sauvage Extreme, Dune, Fahrenheit. In terms of numbers, a paltry showing. And yet, in terms of quality, anything but. Each one a gem worth waiting for. A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to find a ‘proper’ vintage version of the latter online, and while I don’t normally consider myself vintage-obsessed (and I don’t spend ages trawling the net for old bottles), in this case, I am delighted I decided to make the purchase, as this particular masterpiece (credited to Jean-Louis Sieuzac and Michel Almairac, under the creative direction of the legendary Maurice Roger) seems to have been especially marred by successive reformulations.

The current version is recognisable as the fragrance that first hissed its way into our consciousness in 1988. But there’s no question that it’s tamer, making use of sweet, vanillic notes in the base to subdue a creation whose very point was to be irrepressible. The original – seek it out if you can – is a triumph of tone and attitude, somehow managing to be extraordinarily loud (I know of many people who still say they cannot stomach the hyper greenness of its violet leaf facet) and profoundly sophisticated (thanks to an expert use of woods, vetiver and that famous petrol-leather note).

It is one of those extremely rare examples (Habit Rouge and Antaeus come to mind as well) of a composition that successfully encapsulates the most intriguing and compelling paradoxes inherent in the concept of ‘masculinity’: made up of both sharp lines and soft curves, not unlike that other iconic, late-80s exploration of masculinity, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, with its lethal-but-vulnerable mobsters . I have no idea why on earth the teenage me thought I was in any way up to wearing it, but wear it I did, together with every single ancillary product I could get my hands on. 

I mention Fahrenheit today not just for its nostalgia value (although that’s reason enough, of course) but also because soon after I enjoyed a few sprays of my vintage bottle, I found myself reaching for Antoine Maisondieu’s Comme Des Garcons Blackpepper*. When it was released, I didn’t see an immediate connection between the two. But now I wonder if it isn’t possible to assess Blackpepper as a homage to Fahrenheit: a similar structure, in which the eponymous note of the former has been used to replace the violet leaf in the latter. Smell it, and watch the bridges being built across the decades.

Persolaise

* sample provided by the brand
** sample obtained by me

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