Publisher Gerhard Steidl, perfumer Geza Schoen and Wallpaper magazine have collaborated to launch Paper Passion, a new unisex perfume with packaging by Karl Lagerfeld and Steidl:
“The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.”
Karl LagerfeldThis tells the story of a passion and a twisting plot to put the particular bouquet of freshly printed books in a bottle. Gerhard Steidl was first alerted to the importance of the smell of a book by Karl Lagerfeld, prompting a passion for paper and the composition of a scent on the pages of a book. To Wallpaper* magazine the pairing of the publisher with the perfumer seemed a natural partnership and so the idea for Paper Passion was born. Wallpaper* Magazine commissioned master perfumer Geza Schoen to create a fragrance based on the smell of books to be part of the Wallpaper* magazine Handmade exhibition in Milan.
This is an opportunity to celebrate all the glorious sensuality of books, at a time when many in the industry are turning against them. The idea is that is should relax you, like when you read a book, to a level of meditation and concentration. Paper passion has evolved into something quite beautiful and unique. To wear the smell of a book is something very chic. Books are players in the intellectual world, but also in the world of luxury.
Hidden inside the pages of a book, Paper Passion is accompanied by texts from Karl Lagerfeld, Günter Grass, Geza Schoen and Tony Chambers.
Paper Passion is available directly from Steidl, £70.00 or $115.00, size and concentration unknown.
(via steidlville, hat tip to David!)
Update: the notes for Paper Passion include osmanthus, copaiba balsam, amber accord, air accord, paper accord and musk accord. The fragrance is sold in 50 ml Eau de Parfum, and is now at Luckyscent and Aedes in the US for $98.
The book packaging is a great idea. A perfume treasured between the pages…
Yes it is!
I really like the sound of this as the smell of books is one of my very favourite smells. I should think this will do well as so many fumies are avid ‘bookies’ as well. hopefully this will be available to sample from the usual suspects!
I hope so too…
I’d love to hear a side-by-side review with this and CB’s In the Library
So would I!
Will the Flanker be called “Nook”?
Or Kindle..
I wanna sniff this!
Aedes carries alot of Schoen’s fragrances, so maybe they will pick this one up too.
I have sniffed “In the LIbrary.” It smelled like a dream room, but not something I would want on my skin.
I went to the Aedes shop 2 weeks ago. It looks like a cozy library in someone’s home – velvet drapes, wall-to-wall carpeting, a low plush cushioned chair complete with lap blanket and shelves upon shelves of perfume bottles, lined up like books with their spines (titles) out for easy perusing. There’s even a closed glass case with rare (or perhaps just really expensive) perfumes.
I hope they eventually carry this!
Hmm. New book vs. old musty book? I kinda love the dusty, dank smell of the best over-crowded used book stores. They’re a dying breed, but if a perfume took me back there, I’d consider owning some! That sense of discovery: what treasure will I find tucked in the over-crowded shelves?
I love the smell of books (new and old) but I hate In the Library; it’s way too sweet and cloying to me. Hopefully, this one is more realistic.
I’m a traditional watercolorist and children’s book illustrator….I would love to know the notes in this scent…. I would love to love it!
Anyone sampled this yet? I received an email from Aedes that they are carrying it now.
thanks
See the update above!
I just got a sample today. I can’t smell any florals, but my nose is very new to this. Very tangy and sharp. It sure lasts a long time and doesn’t change much over time.