Perfume is dead, long live perfume! L’Etat libre d’Orange, a Parisian perfume house located in the Marais, frees itself from traditional perfume codes to make them more sublime.
As the company describes in its manifesto, L’Etat libre d’Orange is “A land of olfactory libertinism, free of all taboos, which recognizes insubordination and olfactory eroticism as its sole sovereigns. An enclave in the standardized world of contemporary perfumery, where the most talented noses, subject to the demands of their clients, must conform their desires to the tastes of the greatest number.”
At the end of 2010, we had the opportunity to meet the man behind this olfactory revolution, Etienne de Swardt, perfume editor, the creative force behind this crazy bet, and his team of enthusiasts.
What struck us was the artisanal dimension and the desire to push the boundaries of traditional perfumery ever further, to the frontiers of originality, eccentricity and eroticism. Sécrétions Magnifiques, Putain des Palaces, Je suis un Homme… Like the
places dedicated to sexuality and its various practices, a tour of the Etat Libre d’Orange collections is an invitation to let your innermost desires, secrets and obsessions shine through. To wear pleasure against your skin, as if you were adorning yourself with a precious coarse. A language for insiders.
Each fragrance is an olfactory revolution, an exceptional juice created by the greatest noses, a singular story and meticulous packaging designed by Ich&Kar.
Here are a few fragrances that you must discover urgently! :
“Antihero: “Take me as I am” seems to be the motto of this faux Monsieur Tout le Monde. The anti-hero doesn’t cheat on who he is, hence the apparent simplicity of this creation, which revolves entirely around the lavender flower, hedonistic and sunny par excellence. With his air of not touching, this hero of everyday life wages his ordinary battles every day, at work, at the wheel, with his family…, without ever taking himself too seriously. And he knows it. He cultivates his imperfections with humor and the quirky elegance that characterizes him. With his
tousled hair and lopsided look, this gangly superman has the girls falling for him, and we’re still surprised by it, but that’s why we love him.
Parfum “Divin’Enfant” The child seduces and annoys us with equal relentlessness. We fall for his cherubic airs, but he also knows how to drive us crazy. The false innocence of the devil beneath the angel! After a gentle start, with orange blossom and marshmallow in the lead, the unexpected accord of coffee, leather and cold tobacco appears, a gritty symbol of our sleepless nights. True to his reputation as a “polymorphous pervert”, this miniature tyrant loves nothing more than to subject us to his whims, and always succeeds. A delicious little monster!
More discoveries:
Jasmine and cigarettes:
It’s the era of the Harcourt studios. Greta Garbo and Marlène Dietrich magnetize men against a black-and-white backdrop, cigarette in hand and Hollywood twirls in their eyes. “Jasmine and Cigarette” is also the scent of a woman’s skin, lightly jasmineed, exposing its freshness to the opaque seduction of the night. Smoky atmospheres. It’s the memory of a desire, of an indelible trace left by her at dawn
on a garment and in the memory of the man who loved her. It’s elegance à la Gainsbourg, the gypsy-smoking woman of the ’80s, who asserts her eroticism as others slip on jeans, with confounding naturalness. Transparency in sophistication, a suggestion of jasmine mingled with the scent of cigarettes, hitherto neglected in perfumery. We’re into the chiaroscuro, the forbidden, the addiction. From the nicotine woman to the heroin woman, look for the icon. She inhabits the memory of a lack.
Composition : Absolute Jasmine, tobacco, hay, apricot, tonka bean, turmeric, cedar, amber, musk…
Sécrétions Magnifiques:
S for blood, sweat, sperm, saliva. A veritable olfactory coitus, “Sécrétions Magnifiques” takes us to the pinnacle of pleasure,
that unprecedented moment when desire triumphs over reason. The masculine tension, all high notes, releases its adrenalin in a cascade of aldehydes. The freshness effect is striking. Then the fragrance reveals its metallic, precise side, sharp as unfulfilled desire. We’re on the razor’s edge… Sweaty skin tastes of musk and sandalwood. The slightly salty, marine effect excites the taste buds and makes the mouth water. Tongues and sexes find each other, pleasure explodes, and all hell breaks loose. Fluid mechanics, gender confusion. This subversive, unsettling fragrance is either a hit or a miss. The jousts of love are rarely satisfied with half-measures… Between Don
Juan and the offered woman, it’s the laying down of arms, but who bows to whom?
Composition: Iodine accord (bladderwrack, azurone), adrenaline accord, blood accord, milk accord, iris, coconut, sandalwood, opoponax…
Je suis un Homme:
Napoleon used to douse himself in it before battle: “Je suis un Homme” takes up the Cologne accords dear to the Emperor. Citrus and
bergamot in the lead, we prepare to lead the assault in a corps de garde atmosphere, part Corsican scrub, on a note
of myrtle, part Russian retreat. Birch wood and cognac recall the leather of saddles, boots and belts. The
charge will be fast, imperial… à la hussarde! Energizing, testosterone-filled, “Je suis un Homme” is for men who
assert themselves… and for women who assume their masculine side, and lead the offensive without fear of reversing roles.
Composition: Bergamot, orange bigarade, lemon, myrtle, cinnamon, clove, cognac accord, leather, patchouli, animal notes…
Putain des palaces:
This is absolute fantasy. At the top, the powdery note of a woman who adorns herself with the trappings of seduction – the muffled
trace of lipstick, the crunch of lace. An intimate femme fatale ritual that has long since pierced men’s fragile
armour. Her sophistication intrigues, as does her invisible trade. Beneath a touch of bitter almond,
like a secret revealed, the outline of supple, fluid, malleable leather announces what follows: the boudoir, hands that
clutch the moleskin, and the muted, animal presence of pleasure right on the sofa. What woman doesn’t have a
des Palaces whore slumbering – or not – inside her? One who dreams of summoning her desires to the bar of a grand hotel, introducing
her fantasies into the clandestinity of an elevator and wrapping her pleasure in silk sheets.
Composition: Absolu Rose, violet, leather, lily of the valley, mandarin, ginger, rice powder, amber, animal notes…
Here are a few other discoveries:
The redaction’s favorites: Fat Electrician and Charogne
Find them all in the store
BOUTIQUE ETAT LIBRE D’ORANGE – 69 RUE DES ARCHIVES 75003 PARIS – T : 01 42 78 30 09 – WWW.ETATLIBREDORANGE.COM
Pascal Iakovou
Cette publication est également disponible en : Français (French)
