Gauguin

Gauguin condenses into a perfume many emotional elements of my private life, which I have tried to make intelligible to everyone. Perhaps not everyone knows that I have a background as an Art Historian, specialized in artistic forms of the late 19th – early 20th century. Matisse was the subject of my graduation thesis, while Gauguin, with his exotic wanderings, is one of the painters I studied most deeply during my academic path. After graduating, I worked for the Italian publishing house Giunti, assisting Gloria Fossi, an exceptional art historian but above all a woman of great character and culture. At that time she was the same age I am now, and she set off alone for Polynesia in search of Gauguin’s places. Of course, she found much more, as happens to those who search with an open mind. From that adventurous journey she brought me back a small bottle of Monoï – an oil obtained by macerating the Tiaré flower in coconut oil. At the time it was not widespread in Italy, and for me it was a wonderful discovery. Those were the years when I had begun experimenting with perfumes and cosmetics, among other things. That little bottle of Monoï, like a precious relic, has survived three country changes and I believe about seven moves. The artistic project of Gauguin started from an existing accord, that of Sex and The Sea. The temptation to take the formula and simply add the Monoï accord for the sake of practicality was strong, but it would not have worked. I believe in movement and change, and therefore it was inevitable to revisit the formula of Sex and The Sea, to open it up and give it more breath and softness. Only on this new, soft, sumptuous and sensual bed was I able to place a head and heart revolving around Monoï. The coconut notes, already present in the original formula, became even softer in order to integrate with Tiaré, a white flower from the Gardenia family already characterized by lactonic aspects, to which I added a green nuance in the opening. Not declared in the pyramid, the richness of the flower is supported by ylang-ylang, tuberose and geranium. I wanted to enrich this perfume with a packaging that celebrates the special edition and reflects the emotional and sensual richness of the creation, choosing a sumptuous purple velvet embellished with a gold hot-stamped title. The label paper – which reproduces hammered leather – is the same paper as the main collection, but printed in the same color as the velvet. I always joke that it looks like it was designed by a Drag Queen. The search for the perfect Pantone for the purple with which to print the label perhaps took more time than the creation of the perfume itself. But just as in any perfume, the presence of a molecule in trace amounts can completely change the character of a formula, so even a small detail can affect the success of the whole.