Last night, the Fragrance Foundation France presented the 2011 awards of the perfume industry, celebrating the most popular launches, the best design, advertising but also the most original creations as seen by perfumers and the jury of experts, where I had the pleasure to be invited as a member. For this event, organized in the Grand Hotel Ball Room decorated in the opulent Napoleon III style, I decided to wear something special and unusual to celebrate the 8th Art in 2011. It was the magnificent, yet delicate and very rare Kadine, created by Jacques Guerlain in 1911, a beautiful spicy orris-violet perfume with a subtle aniseed heliotrope touch. And indeed, sitting right in the center of the room under the giant crystal chandelier at a table with a perfumer that signed several of the most beautiful modern creations, wearing vintage Guerlain (and the blotters of two exquisite new Serge Lutens in my pocket) was highly unusual for a world that has almost forgotten what artistic quality is.
The FIFI 2011 for the feminine perfume went to Belle d'Opium (YSL) and the FIFI 2011 for the masculine perfume went to Bleu de Chanel, both creations voted by the masses. You know my opinion about these two mass market creations, I was too shocked to hear them last night and I preferred to take a deep breath of Kadine. During the evening it was clear to me that very few in the room, except their houses and their commercial department, were actually loving Belle d'Opium and Bleu de Chanel.
The surprise of the evening was the award given by a team of perfumers to the most original creation of 2010. The perfumer's award went to Womanity (Thierry Mugler), the other nominee was Like this Tilda Swinton (Etat Libre d'Orange). While this perfume is certainly not my coup de coeur (au contraire, it is on my short list of "I cannot stand this fragrance"), I appreciated the unusual idea, the audacity and the strangeness of the creation. Giving the prize to this creation full with paradoxes, the perfumers showed that personality and a highly original idea are the most important features today when consumers are all the same. You might not love Womanity but it is really unique. The success of Bleu de Chanel equals the "success" of the Blue Mao Suit during Chinese Cultural Revolution in the 60's. I consider it the Blue Mao Suit of the perfume industry when big brands start their own Cultural Revolution in the New World Odour ideology.
The Expert Jury where I was a member (along with Denyse Beaulieu, Maïté Turonnet, Sabine Chabbert, Antigone Schilling, Nicolas Olczyk, and many other) gave the award to the most beautiful and original exclusive perfume, those rare creations that celebrate the 8th art. They represent the perfumes with highly artistic value for those with exquisite tastes, not willing to smell like (one) millions and their Blue Mao Suit fragrance (an Axe deodorant disguised in a perfume bottle). I was extremely happy the final list of our passionate debate last week contained three of the most accomplished creations with an unsurpassed beauty - Nuit de Tubéreuse (Artisan Parfumeur), Like This Tilda Swinton (Etat Libre d'Orange) and L'Heure Fougueuse (Cartier). During the jury, as I defended these perfumes during the whole previous year, it was extremely difficult to make my choice between Nuit de Tubéreuse and Like This, a creation that I've instantly recognized as one of those masterpieces a critic has to defend during any occasion.
In March 2010 I was writing in the long analysis of this perfume:
" Like This is one of those creations that shares both the feeling of being familiar and being very intriguing to the limits of curiosity. This year, the young Mathilde Bijaoui gave us an unusual interpretation where the heavy notes of immortelle became solar again. They are disintegrated from their usual heaviness into small particles of light. With this perfume you actually feel the power of the Sun transferred to the flowers for an eternal beauty, modest and not opulent and this power is again transferred to the feminine skin."
Though a passionate lover of white narcotic flowers, I made my choice last week and I defended "Like This", for its original interpretation, capturing the scent of natural materials with an orange color.
The award for the Best 2011 creation went to "Like This" created by the talented Mathilde Bijaoui.
As a member of the jury I was shocked by something that I do not consider positive, but rather alarming for new brands. While I knew 95% of the perfumes in the very long list with niche creations sold in France, and I even wrote my opinion last year for most of them, for the other members of the jury it was very difficult to experience them during the year. Brands do not send samples to those supposed to know, vote and promote their creations in France. One member abstained from voting for a perfume house precisely for this reason. This is outrageous given the number of 1,5 ml samples produced every year and the very small number of experts in Paris whose mission is to recognize, support and speak about the beautiful and original perfumes. In fact, during the FIFI AWARDS 2011 Gala, a lot of people I was talking to were surprised that my blog is about generosity, sharing and beauty as if the first mission of the perfume was completely forgotten.
There is still something I do not agree about the FIFI AWARD, and I think about all countries. The categories based on distribution should be abolished, there are good fragrances in each of them and the consumer buying today through all channels (including online) should be guided by the quality. When you wear a perfume you don't wear its "bottle", its "price" and its "shop", but a form of art with different degrees of accomplishment, from the easiest representation of an idea to the most complex expression, stimulating thoughts and emotions, from the most naive form to the highly intellectual expression, as it is the case of the creations from Serge Lutens, Frédéric Malle or Cartier, among a generous list of true perfumes.
There is still something I do not agree about the FIFI AWARD, and I think about all countries. The categories based on distribution should be abolished, there are good fragrances in each of them and the consumer buying today through all channels (including online) should be guided by the quality. When you wear a perfume you don't wear its "bottle", its "price" and its "shop", but a form of art with different degrees of accomplishment, from the easiest representation of an idea to the most complex expression, stimulating thoughts and emotions, from the most naive form to the highly intellectual expression, as it is the case of the creations from Serge Lutens, Frédéric Malle or Cartier, among a generous list of true perfumes.
The Best Feminine Perfume- Belle d’Opium (YSL)
The Best Masculine Perfume- Bleu de Chanel
The Best Feminine Flacon- Balenciaga Paris
The Best Masculine Flacon- Voyage d’Hermès
The Best Publicity Campaign Feminine- Trésor in Love (Lancôme)
The Best Publicity Campaign Masculine- Biotherm Homme Force
The Best Perfume Distributed Under Its Own Name- Pivoine (L’Occitane en Provence)
The Specialist’s Prize- Like This, Tilda Swinton (Etat Libre d’Orange)
The Perfumer’s Prize- Womanity (Thierry Mugler)
Special Prize of The Fragrance Foundation France Board- Romano Ricci / Juliette Has a Gun
Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.
Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
