Perfume is dead, long live perfume! Is this the new slogan of the Queen of Hearts? Well no … unless the Queen has taken up residence in a store in the Parisian Marais at the corner of rue Pastournelle and rue des Archives! This small store on the corner is in fact a perfumery advocating olfactory libertinage, insubordination and olfactory eroticism.
The tone is set as soon as you approach this new kind of place: you can see the revolutionary slogan in the form of a giant roundel on the window and to the left of it the most unexpected visual ever, the slightly scoundrel cleavage of the back of a fleshy electrician. And as you get closer to look through the glass, you can even see the amazing names of the treasures being sold.
Let’s go to the other side of the mirror by entering this new territory. In black, white and pink tones and not denying a little neo-baroque boudoir side, these places stick perfectly to the declaration of independence of this unique perfumery.
It was founded by Etienne de Swardt, former LVMH employee and creator of the dog perfume “Oh my Dog”. In 2006, he created État Libre d’Orange (in homage to his native South Africa), a little tired of the precious side of current perfumery and the restriction of creation, with a credo: to provoke in order to better seduce. And he invited his friends nose Antoine Lie, Nathalie Feisthauer, Antoine Maisondieu to interpret sensual stories for the most part by playing with the scents. One word of order: to arouse emotions and desires in the person who wears and in the person who smells the perfume. And find the originality of the product by giving free rein to the author’s imagination, far from the marketing constraints. Perfume is no longer a product, it is now a work of art in its own right.
And of course, we are subjugated. First of all the place, where all around a shelf table almost acting as a perfumery organ, a large library is full of art and photography books, many of which are published by Taschen: men’s bodies, pin-ups, glamour, erotica, Helmut Newton, among others. We are no longer in a perfumery but rather in a chic bookstore where art predominates… Then by the different scents that our hostess makes us enjoy: disturbing, spicy or virginal but none of them leaves us totally indifferent. Our olfactory initiation shakes us up and becomes an initiation to pleasure.
This perfumery with a slightly provocative concept, but which has the good taste to never fall into the vulgar, renews the approach of contemporary perfumery by offering more freedom to the noses, both in terms of components and works. A dusting in good standing which offers itself to us where the compositions remain refined by employing rare and precious materials and where the titles are rather unusual. From “Putain des Palaces” to “Sécrétions magnifiques” through “Don’t get me wrong Baby I don’t Swallow” and “Charogne”, the names of these perfumes disturb but do not shock. An insider’s language that doesn’t suit everyone. Shock visuals in the form of forbidden images were also created by the graphic design tandem Ich&Kar to reinforce the identity of these fragrances with a strong erotic charge. And for a setting, the sobriety of a graphic bottle and the poetry of a recipe….
And État Libre d’Orange is not only satisfied with its 15 perfumes range, it also creates personalized perfumes for strong personalities such as Rossi de Palma or Tilda Swinton. Far from leaving these original interpretations to the exclusivity of their muses, these precious formulas are also offered in the boutique for everyone. A way to wear the perfume of another.
Go to 69 rue des Archives and try to guess what each of the scents you will be able to breathe is made of. You will not be disappointed.
Orange Free State
69 Rue des archives 75003 Paris 01 42 78 30 09
Marie-Odile Radom
ORANGE FREE STATE
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