Fracas and the Pacific Collection
Parfums from the House of Piguet
What do old Hollywood starlet Marlene Dietrich, queen of pop Madonna, legendary supermodel Iman, and all-star fashion designer Marc Jacobs all have in common? An impeccable sense of smell, and the House of Piguet’s signature scent Fracas fanning softly from their pulse points.
Regarded as one of the world’s most elegant and iconic perfume houses, the House of Piguet began as a fashion shop opened in 1933 by Robert Piguet, the Switzerland-born, Paris-based couturier who had among his friends the inimitable fashion designer Paul Poiret, and who was mentor to a veritable who’s who of haute couture elite, among them Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior. It was to this calibre of audience that Piguet’s Fracas – a white floral dominated by tuberose, with soft sandalwood undertones – was first released in 1948, and which nearly 65 years later has become a cult scent amongst the parfum cognoscenti.
15 years after the 1998 reissue of Fracas, the Robert Piguet label has reached another milestone, teaming up with iconic French actress Isabelle Huppert – a lifelong fan of the fragrance – to create a limited-edition box of Fracas, designed by Pierre Dinand and soon available for sale worldwide following an exclusive launch period at Paris’ Le Bon Marché. The classic scent remained unchanged, but so fresh and relevant was the face to the collaboration that it made the cover of Vogue Paris’ September issue – a miraculous feat, as any fashion editor will tell you. But it doesn’t end there.
September also saw the launch of the Pacific Collection, a trio of scents that was inspired by and crafted especially for the Asian consumer, and the first targeted collection Piguet has ever released. All three scents, Blossom, Chai and Jeunesse, were mixed by master perfumer Aurelien Guichard, who has previously worked for Nina Ricci, Gucci and John Galliano, and who for this project drew inspiration from indigenous Asian ingredients. In Blossom, notes of white petal, mandarin and musk feature, while Chai carries distinct notes of white tea leaves and bergamot, and Jeunesse (youth) is a fresh and vibrant assemblage of blackcurrant, raspberries and pomegranate.
The Pacific Collection is exclusively stocked in Hong Kong at Lane Crawford IFC, but for the rest of the world will soon be available for purchase online, along with the 15 other fragrances that make up Piguet’s Classic and Nouvelle Collections. The limited edition box I.H. Fracas is available in select luxury department stores worldwide.