Christian Dior’s world was full of talismans and flowers — a detail celebrated in iconic perfumer Francis Kurkdjian’s latest creation for the French fashion house, La Collection Privée Christian Dior Rose Star, which lands on shelves this week.
Paying homage to two of the designer’s most precious treasures — the long-loved Centifolia rose, which Dior cultivated throughout his life, and his lucky five-pointed guiding star (it is said that in April 1946 he was out walking when he stumbled over a metal star, taking this as a sign to open a couture house) — this fragrance turns all our powdery preconceptions of traditional rose perfumes on their head.
Expect instead a scent that is modern, not classic; deliciously spicy, not sweet; petal-soft, warm and sexy, not prim; for him too - not just her.
I spoke to Francis Kurkdjian at the late Christian Dior’s Château de la Colle Noir in Provence to discover more about the inspiration for Rose Star, the making of a modern scent, and the importance of having a great narrative in fragrance making.
How do you balance modernity with Dior’s heritage in your olfactory creations?
“You have to find a way to step back and to be very self-critical. Dior can be stuffy, and can be outdated in a way, because Christian Dior’s studio was founded in 1946, which is nearly 80 years ago. So things have changed dramatically ... They were done differently then. But I believe it's a matter of loving the brand and making people love the brand, as well. I think it's very subtle, because it’s about balance. You keep what is necessary. You keep what strikes you.”
Why were the rose and the star chosen as the codes for this scent?
“We have lots of codes at Dior, but none as meaningful as the rose and the star. The star was a lucky charm for Christian Dior, and the rose was his favorite flower. He grew it in all his gardens - from his mother’s in Normandy, to Milly-la-Forêt and the Château de La Colle Noire, where he planted hectares of Centifolia rose.”
The rose is a very classic ingredient. Is it a challenge to make a truly modern rose scent?
“There are many rose scents. How can you pretend to create something new? But if your story is new, you have a better chance that the end result will smell new. If you work with an unknown ingredient, the challenge is to make it known and relevant and sexy enough to be interesting. So there are always challenges … But I always go back to the importance of the story. Where to start if you don’t have the angle?
Sometimes I start a fragrance, and think I have a great idea. And then after two or three weeks, I say, nope and start again. I will go back to the story. I try to see why I went in the wrong direction. And I start over again. It’s happened quite a few times. But normally, if the story is well done, then it comes right away. That was the case with this one.”
The Centifolia rose has been used very extensively in perfumery. What is special about it and how have you reimagined it in this scent?
“The idea was to play with the facets. So I highlighted five: There is a citrus facet that is quite harsh and green, there is a spicy note that smells like cinnamon, like clover. Then you have a delicate fruity note, like warm lychee. Then there is a facet that smells a bit like honey.
Then the last one to me is more abstract. I call it the umami. The umami of the rose is the dewiness when you smell it … There is something very soft and delicate, which is not about the smell, but more about the feeling of it. It’s super soft. Like the caress of a petal. It’s a bit like human skin. It’s more a feeling than a scent.”
How does this scent smell to you?
“For me it is very pale, very delicate, very airy, very bright. I like that fluffiness. And yet there is something very dark in it. So there is a contrast. It’s dark and bright. And then there is both softness and strength at the centre. This is how I put it together. Because I love tension and duality. I would love people to understand that.”
Was creating Rose Star a straightforward process?
Yes, this one was actually easy. Why? Because first of all it’s not the first time I have created a rose perfume. So I have been through the process … Even though it was ten years ago and for my own brand. I have been there. So there are things that I have learned not to do again. Secondly, the five facets of the rose and the five points of the star provided the story … It felt logical.”
La Collection Privée Christian Dior Rose Star, (From £255 for 100ml, at Harrods Knightsbridge)
