There is a short film on the Hermès website of perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena talking about his inspirations for the Kelly Calèche fragrance. He recalls…
…a visit I made to the place where the Hermès leather is stocked…and what surprised me with all these leathers was their smell. They were all flowery to different degrees. It was very far from the approach that chooses to give leather the pungent smell of smoke, like Russian leather with the smell of birch. Smells that are really very hard. It wasn’t that at all. The smells were supple, delicate and flowery.
To find the film, click on the bottom left orange square on the navigation bar at the upper right hand corner of the screen, then click on the picture of Jean-Claude Ellena.
In French, with English subtitles (and I found the subtitles were cut off until I minimized the film screen). Many thanks to Bela for the link!
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I love Un Jardin Apres la Mousson!!!! I can't help it!!!!
You don't have to try to help it, LOL…and I love Kelly Caleche, and that one was maligned in some circles. So whatever!
Yeah, thanks for the reminder, R.
(We're together on KC!)
I love Kelly Caleche too and I cherish my full bottle
Also can't wait to try Un Jardin Apres La Mousson!
Also adding that Mousson seems to be gaining fans…would love to know how it is selling.
It is a great scent…and if I'd paid more attention to JCE's statements about leather (he said similar things to the press around the launch time) it would not have been such a surprise.
You know what, I just don't LOVE Kelly Caleche. I think I was hoping for something more. I like it, but I never once caught myself longing to own it.
How I admire JCE. I think that much bandied-about, jadedly on-trend term 'minimalist' does him a great disservice. To me he is a classicist who understands the purity of a theme as a musician would. I love practically everything he has done at Hermes even if I wouldn't wear all of them – I admire Vetiver Tonka for instance but it's just a tad too masculine for me. I love Kelly Caleche – to me it really does smell of floral leather and it is the most exquisitely tasteful scent I own.
I think that is how I felt when I first tried it…but it grew on me. I've been wearing it quite a bit this spring.
I'm sure I've used the term “minimalist”, but entirely agree — it probably does do a disservice.
You know, I received a small sample of Kelly Caleche the other day with another purchase — I hadn't smelled it before and I only put a small spritz on my hand, but what immediately struck me is that there is an accord in there that to my nose is VERY similar to something in Jardin sur le Nil and, to a lesser degree, in Jardin en Mediterrannee. I don't know how to explain the similarity, but if I hadn't known better, I almost would have thought I was smelling a different “version” of Jardin sur le Nil (like a flanker). Does this sound crazy? Is there an “Ellena-ade” — a signature accord or something in his Hermes scents?
Agree, and also reminds me of Rose Ikebana & Osmanthe Yunnan. Definitely common ground there, although don't find it in all of his fragrances — not in Vetiver Tonka or Ambre Narguile, for instance.