Indie line Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has launched the Passport to Paris Collection, a new trio of perfumes — Passport a` Paris, Amouse Bouche and Vers la Violette — for the Denver Art Museum, inspired by their Passport to Paris exhibition. Also launched earlier this year: Want, Catch and Release. This year's holiday fragrance for the Dawn Spencer Hurwitz brand will be a reissue of Bois du Chocolat.

Passport a` Paris (shown) ~ "Passport a` Paris is my fragrant ode to two perfume greats of Paris, Jicky and Fougere Royale, circa 1885. Inspired by Claude Monet’s “The Beach at Trouville”, this universal perfume could be worn by both men and women on their holiday as well as about town. Passport a` Paris utilizes aroma molecules vanillin and coumarin. considered quite modern at the time. Hints of eau de cologne mix with the vanilla and hay notes to end in a rich animalic drydown."

Amouse Bouche ~ Amouse Bouche is a succulent strawberry gourmand perfume layered within an aldehydic floriental design. Synthetic aldehydes were being developed and used during the late 19th century as they added a note of modernity but also folly to the “new” perfume style. Inspired by Toulouse- Lautrec’s “The Dunce’s Cap”, ca. 1888-90, Amouse Bouche is a warm, delightful, filled with fun scent that begins with the strawberry aldehyde, takes you through a classical floral heart to finish with rich wood and buttery brioche."

Vers la Violette ~ "Vers la Violette takes one of the most important perfumes of the late 19th Century, violets (mainly worn by women), and fashions it into a more modern, 21st century gender-bending design that utilizes the molecule ionone. Drawing inspiration from Hippolyte Petitjean’s “Village”, 1893, Vers La Violette starts with a fresh green opening and dries down into a subtle sueded leather, all the while it is clearly violet."

Want ~ "A fresh, sparkling eau fraiche / green chypre adaptation complete with a blast of aldehydes, the depth of oakmoss and a hidden *sugar cube. (*don’t be put off by the sugar note… it’s very subtle and makes it so delicious. Plus, you know you WANT it)."

Catch & Release ~ "A salty, watery chypre-animalic that has little basis in classical perfume styles. An abstraction with salty-marine nuances, a definite mossy-smoky-animalic drydown and yet with a very subtle sweetness throughout."

Bois du Chocolat ~ "This Holiday season, we’ve decided to bring back a favorite design that’s just right for the season: Bois du Chocolat. Bois du Chocolat is that warm and enveloping, sensual gourmand that has just the right balance of chocolate, rich woods and skin musk. Sexy never smelled so good!"

 (via press release and dshperfumes)

Update: see a review of Amouse Bouche.