Herve Leger has launched Rose Leger (bottle shown at right), a new fragrance with freesia and rose orchid (via Americas Duty Free & Travel Retailing) Update: Rose Leger is an Eau de Parfum, and is available in 30, 50 and 75 ml. Additional notes include nectarine, peony, pikake, violet, woods, musk and heliotrope. (via osmoz)
Guerlain will launch Insolence this August. The fragrance will be represented by actress Hilary Swank:
The aim is to attract women who like Guerlain, but don’t feel ready for it yet, which translates into a younger target...Composed by Maurice Roucel of Symrise, it sports notes of violet, red fruits and iris. (via cosmeticnews)
Update: ~ a more complete list of notes for Insolence via abc-luxe: iris, violet, orange blossom, rose, tonka bean and red fruits, or see a review of Guerlain Insolence.
The next exclusive release from Serge Lutens is rumored to be called Mandarine Mandarin. It is to launch in September and might just have notes of tangerine, cashmeran, clove, amber, honey & beeswax. Read more at autourdeserge. Update: see a review of Serge Lutens Mandarine Mandarin.
Maurice Roucel?? Now we are talking 🙂 Everything I heard about Insolence so far (and nowthis “younger woman, not ready for Guerlain” thing) makes me think it will not be great, to put in nicely. But now that I know it is Roucel's creation, there is a hope it would at least be good.
Well I think the Guerlain is very good, dispite the fact it is geared toward younger. That never stopped me before! I love the violet opening, definitely some Apres L'Ondee going on there, only improved will better sillage and lasting ability. I predict this will be a big seller.
I'm very excited about the Herve Leger, another one of my favorites, I hope the Rose is as nice.
Insolence is designed for younger women “not ready” for Guerlain? So at what age is one ready for Guerlain fragrances? Marketing like this really ticks me off. :(:( As I recall, Shalimar was released in 1925 for younger women at the height of the flapper/roaring 20's thing.
Not ready my butt!
Hugs!
I suspected that the “women who like Guerlain, but don’t feel ready for it yet” comment would create even more disdain than it has. I have to say – all apologies to colombina and violetnoir! – that I think such comments nearly always bring out the snobbery of the perfume community. I think it's a perfectly valid and perceptive thing for Guerlain to acknowledge. While I have a healthy repsect for the Guerlains as works of art, at 28 and as a mother, I feel intimidated and put off by most of the Guerlains for wear because of the “old lady” heaviness and mustiness of them. (Jicky excluded – it, ironically, smells modern to me.) While I admire young women who can pull of Vol de Nuit, I can see the need for a more accessible scent. Masterpieces can be difficult to live with, as Guerlain's sales have shown for at least a decade. Of course, I would be saddened to see them create some fruity-floral mess, but niche lines can do it too, and I live in hope that they just might create something wonderfully wearable.
I understand, but query: If a younger woman “[doesn't] feel ready” to wear a Guerlain fragrance yet, how does she know that she even “likes” their fragrances?
Therein lies the question and the very “twisted” nature of this new marketing campaign. The pitch and the phrasing do not make much sense to me, although I understand that Guerlain is trying to tap into a broader market.
And my snobbish perfumed sensibility says “Right on!” to that. :):):) The more people that that buy Guerlain fragrances, no matter what they are, and come to love and admire their beauty, the better.
Hugs!
I haven't heard anything positive either, M. We'll see…
Glad to hear a positive report, and I'll certainly try it, especially if it is anything like Apres L'Ondee…
LOL! And I thought that the Aqua Allegorias were already the range for the “not ready for Guerlain” set.
LOL — guilty as charged. It is hard not to feel snobby, mind you, when you are of an age that literally *never* gets targeted by the marketers.
But I do agree that Guerlain, like anybody else, has to remain profitable or else perish, and I sympathise. And I would agree that some of the older ones are just not considered “wearable” by modern standards, or at least not likely to attract new customers — although as an old lady I have to object to calling them “old lady” scents — and that Guerlain has to move with the times. I just wish they'd manage to create something both profitable and groundbreaking. In that sense, L'Instant was a disappointment, although I do think it is a nice scent. But 100 years from now, will it be considered a classic? I rather doubt it, although hey, what do I know.
Hi,
I rather agree with Tigs. But I also understand violetnoir
Nevertheless, why not just admit that in order to enable classic Guerlain fragrances (and not only Shalimar – or Vetiver that I wear) to resist time… other new launches, younger, more commercial have to be done. Many brands will be born, many other will die. Of course, many of us are fragrance lovers, we like to discover 'petits bonheurs' and hidden creations. But after products like Mahora and Coriolan failed, a 'success' like L'Instant & L'Instant pour Homme are not enough for a international brand like Guerlain. I'm quite against launches every year for a brand. But without new customers, new products, new image, certain brands simply die. Obviously, I don't think about Guerlain at first sight. But we, fragrance addicts, must be aware that without this new fragrances, fragrances like Nahéma, Diorella (Dior), Fleurs de Fleurs (Ricci) or many others would simply disappear. With much more regret that thinking that 'these new launches are commercial crap'. If we want perfume to have a Future, let it have a Present. I react here whereas I'm generally rather discreet, but when some of us talk like this, it makes me think of the 70-80 year old embittered perfumers that I see sometimes and that say : 'Oh. Today is not like Yesterday. Then, we did great creations. Now perfumery is over'. It's a bit sad, I think.
ambroxan
30 year old, Paris
Heehee, that's why the scare quotes around “old lady”, R. I've worn scents that people have labelled “old lady” – my husband calls P d Therese “that grandma perfume”! – and I've just come to associate a certain vintage base note heaviness with that phrase.
violetnoir – Thank you for your very measured response to my provocative post! I struggled with the same aspect of the comment: how can somebody “like Guerlain” if they don't wear the fragrances? Then I realized that statement describes me pretty well! 🙂 I think there is a lot of respect among perfumies for the classic genius (if you will) of the Guerlains, so people like me (and Robin, I think) “like” Guerlain and would dearly love to enjoy wearing most of the scents.
ambroxan, I appreciate your last comment. I am a voracious reader and a sometimes writer with many published author and/or academic friends, and I am very bored with the defeatist “there are no classics written anymore” argument. I've never thought literaure stopped with Joyce (or Proust!), just as I think perfumery didn't end with the justly lauded Guerlain classics.
You ladies are wonderful!
Thank you all for engaging in this lively and respectful debate. :):) We may have different opinions, but I really appreciate it when we can all share our thoughts without belittling each other. Thoughtful discussions have always helped me expand my horizons and look at issues from another perspective.
Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Enjoy your perfume adventures, wherever they may take you.
Hugs!
This campaign is so ironic, since I was inspired to wear “Champs-Elysees” when I was 19 years old and it actually became too sweet for me as time went on. I realize “Champs” was meant to be geared toward a younger audience, but a close friend of mine began wearing “Shalimar” even younger than that–not the new “light” or “watered down” version or whatever they call it. We are both now in our mid twenties and sometimes the honeyed essence can be sweet for either of us. When is one “ready” for Guerlain? Old lady scents, my apple…
Of course, this could just be a clever back patting session; Guerlain's creative team may hope to portray themselves as a house of such astounding luxury, young women may yet have aquired the means to appreciate it…
No doubt there are young women who wear Guerlain, but I would not be surprised if they were falling behind other brands in reaching the youth market, and it does seem like that is the market all the brands are reaching for these days!