Earlier this week, Azzedine Alaïa debuted his first eau de perfum for women, available exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue. After a celebrated three-decade-plus career, the renowned Parisian couturier is adding fragrance to his icons of fashion.
Eponymously titled ALAÏA PARIS, it seems Alaïa has his hand — and nose — in every aspect of production, meticulously and personally overseeing each detail, while working closely with a team of experts including longtime friend and collaborator Carla Sozzani, perfumer Marie Salamagne, and bottle designer Martin Szekely.
“It is not a parfum, but an eau de parfum,” explains the designer. “Besides, to perfume oneself is like to refresh oneself; It’s a very usual gesture, complementary to that of the toilette.”
The essence of the fragrance is a memory of the designer’s childhood in Tunisia: an echo of the sensation of cold water falling on hot chalk. “Very quickly, I came up with a formula that evoked this feeling,” says Salamagne. “They were fresh, aquatic mineral notes. Then, I added an animal note by surrounding it with musk.” Airy notes of pink pepper and floral accords of freesia and peony combined with the musk to create Alaia’s sensual overall impression of bare skin.
The bottle, conceived by designer Martin Szekely, is formed of heavy and precious translucent black glass adorned front and back with the famous Alaïa laser-cut pattern (an emblematic pattern which first appeared on the leather corset in the 1990s). The cap evokes a spool of golden thread, made of zamak and pink gold.
ALAÏA PARIS debuted at Saks Fifth Avenue stores nationwide and on saks.com on August 20, 2015, and will be available exclusively at Saks through August 2016.
