Hermes Voyage d’Hermes ~ new fragrance

Voyage d'Hermes fragrance bottle

Hermès will launch Voyage d’Hermès, a new unisex fragrance, this coming April.

The fragrance was developed by Hermès house perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, and is reportedly a fresh musky woods. I will update with notes when I can find them; meantime, here’s a link to the promotional video (link no longer working, sorry).

Hermès Voyage d’Hermès will be available in 35 and 100 ml refillable Eau de Toilette spray and in 125 ml refills.

(via jebe.de, osmoz.fr, hechoeneuropa, with many thanks to Jacob for the tip!)

Update: I have replaced the images at the top, and here are some details from the press release; first, on Jean-Claude Ellena: ~

He wanted the most beautiful of journeys, the one not yet undertaken. He hoped that people would smell the perfume and say, not: “It reminds me…” but: “It’s calling to me.” Going on a journey means going to another place. Wherever the wind leads us, where our heart takes us, where those we meet captivate and liberate us. Not knowing in advance.

He had to avoid outlining a portrait of a man or a woman, of a town or a nature spot, of a moment or an era. But to create abstract art. A play on paradoxes. Complementary elements. No, this perfume would not smell of a kind of wood, a flower, a particular raw material, but of the unknown in all its glory. To express its nuances and unexpected pairings. Familiar, surprising. Energy, comfort. Masculine, feminine. An infectious mixing of genres. A woody fresh, musky fragrance.

What is left of you when you are gone? What do you give off when you are here? That is what this perfume is. The mystery and the trace left behind.

And on the bottle designer, Philippe Mouquet:

He would combine self-assurance with vivacity. This would be to the classic perfume bottle what the pocket magnifying glass was to the solid sort that lives in a desk, what a wristwatch is to a clock. It would open out at the touch of a finger, like pushing a door. It would turn on itself without going round. Not content with being merely mobile, it would be the incarnation of movement itself. Its material and colour would be aluminium, a material that reflects all others. Its contours would be those of a stirrup. Its axis a saddle tack.

It would blend seamlessly with the hand. Would not be thrown away but kept. Refilled. And filled again. It would go away and stay on. Living a long time.

Another update: see a review of Voyage d’Hermès.

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91 Comments

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  1. Posted on 20 January 2010

    Can’t seem to load the video link.

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      I think I fixed it…can you try again?

      • Posted on 20 January 2010

        Good to go Robin! Very nice video BTW. :-)

        • Robin
          Posted on 20 January 2010

          I like it too…the symbolism is maybe a bit heavy handed, but whatever — it’s pretty!

  2. jonr951
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    How exciting!!!! I cant wait!!! Its gonna b great!!! Thanks for the tip!!! : )

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      This has shot to the top of my “get some” list!

  3. jonr951
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    So whos the bird and whos the horse? LOL!!

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      They did the naked man interspersed with the horse so was waiting for a naked woman with the bird, but I guess they figured enough was enough!

      • Nina
        Posted on 20 January 2010

        Ooh, I didn’t spot the naked man – I had to go back and watch it more carefully! I thought the hand/arm shot was probably a woman? Nice ad. Salivating for the scent.

        • Robin
          Posted on 20 January 2010

          Oh, maybe I need to go watch it again too then! There was a man’s back, then they switched to the horse’s side.

          • Posted on 20 January 2010

            On my computer, it skips, sort of like a record. I had to watch it twice to see all the nuance. My favorite part is at the very end when the horse on the logo kicks out of its traces and goes running off with the bird. Nice touch! I hope the “musky” is something else besides that cantaloupe note that he dragged through Mousson. I’m still cranky about that. But, sigh, anything that JCE makes I have to seriously sniff.

          • Robin
            Posted on 21 January 2010

            Oh, gosh — no reason for cantaloupe here!

      • HarleyQ
        Posted on 20 January 2010

        Actually there’s a quick shot of a woman’s pale white hands, arranged like wings, so they did do bird=woman to match horse=man, they just did it subtly.

  4. jonr951
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    I cannot wait to here about the notes!! Im loving the bottle 2! Totally Hermes w/ a modern twist! I sure hope its released in department stores & not just their boutiques like the Hermessence! Then Ill never get to try it!! : (

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      And I am hoping that isn’t an outer leather sheath that costs a fortune.

      • jonr951
        Posted on 21 January 2010

        From the new pic, it doesnt look like leather which is great cuz it could be more affordable!! YAY!! With my luck, Im not seeing it right and its totally leather! I want it, I want it, I want it!!! : )

      • jonr951
        Posted on 21 January 2010

        You could buy the Hermessence collection online now!!! How exciting!!! YAY!!!! : )

        • Robin
          Posted on 21 January 2010

          Yep. Wish they’d put the Discovery sets online.

  5. platinum14
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    *sigh*
    LOVE the bottle, but really, REALLY don’t like anything that contains musk. :-(
    So this might be a pass….. but I’ll keep hoping, maybe I’ll like this one!

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      The various musk aromachemicals are so different from each other though…are you really sure you don’t like any of them?

      • platinum14
        Posted on 20 January 2010

        Not the ones I have tried to date… and after a few negative experiences I gave up on musk altogether. I guess I should keep trying…. (although it cuts back on the yearly spending to eliminate off hand anything that mentions musk)

        • Robin
          Posted on 20 January 2010

          Ok, but have to say that most scents (other than naturals, obviously) use one or another (or several) musk aromachemicals. So eliminating only the things that mention musk doesn’t at all eliminate musk from your collection. But I’m sure you know that already!

          • platinum14
            Posted on 20 January 2010

            yup

  6. Jill
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    So excited about this! I thought the video was lovely (and it was nice to see animals instead of some model, LOL).

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      It’s a great video. They most always do a nice job on videos.

  7. Joe
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    Huzzah! 35ml! I’m with you hoping the leather thing doesn’t cost a [relative] fortune, but I’m sure it will. Oh well, the juice is what’s important, right? Very interested in hearing more. Also, nice video.

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      Yes — 35 ml is wonderful!

    • Daisy
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      first of all—hope springs eternal and all that–you know the leather thingy is going to be $$$ …..second–I’m so glad to see that my family aren’t the only ones running around shouting ” Huzzah! ” (at appropriate junctures naturally) :-)

      • Tama
        Posted on 20 January 2010

        I see “huzzah” quite a bit lately. Seems to have gained popularity.

  8. Abyss
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    Brilliant! Hermes is one of my favourite houses and a fresh musky wood by Ellena is worth checking out in my book. Sounds like it could be a nicely wearable scent.

    Beautiful video too.

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      One of my favorite houses too…and would guess they take a huge percentage of my fragrance spending.

  9. boojum
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    Maybe the leather is optional? Though I guess the bottle doesn’t look that way. Oh well. The “fresh” is giving me a little pause too. Won’t stop me from sniffing when I get a chance, though!

    • Joe
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      What’s funny is that to me, Eau de Gentiane Blanche is a sort of “fresh woody musk” (as opposed to “fresh musky woods”), but I think it’s the iris in it that gives me the “woody” vibe. I truly love that one.

      • boojum
        Posted on 20 January 2010

        I can’t make up my mind on that one at all…it smelled very different both times I smelled it.

      • Helle
        Posted on 20 January 2010

        I love Gentiane Blanche as well, and it’s what I wear when I want to feel “fresh” as in straight-out-of-the-shower. It’s so light and dry but still has good staying power. Did you try layering with Pamplemousse rose? Grrreat!

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      I’m not even sure it’s leather…we’ll have to wait for more info/images.

      • boojum
        Posted on 21 January 2010

        It looks like white leather in the photo, but in the promo ad it looks shiny/metallic…so maybe not, after all.

        • boojum
          Posted on 21 January 2010

          Err, promo video. Late nights!

      • Robin
        Posted on 21 January 2010

        Added a new picture — it really doesn’t look like leather.

  10. datura5750
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    perfume bottle= IHermes?

  11. Rictor07
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    That is a nice bottle design. I dont want to wait until april tho.

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      Hopefully Hermes boutiques will have it sooner…

  12. Bee
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    oh dear, I was so sure I had attained the zen-like perfumista stage 4, back to stage 3 then

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      LOL! I think even in stage 5, some things are bound to break through.

  13. abirae
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    Oooh! I hope this is a big release! I want to see that bottle in my local Sephora.

    Horse + bird + fresh musky woods = ?

    I’m drawing a blank, but Byredo’s Blanche is conceptually similar and they list the notes as white rose, pink pepper, Aldehyde, violet, neroli, peony, blonde woods, sandalwood and musk. So it could be anything..

    Personally I’m hoping for violet, iris, neroli, and the dry earth and flint accords from Terre d’Hermes, maybe a little electric zap, but I’m sure Ellena has something exciting in store.

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      I’m pretty sure it is a big release, but we’ll see. Hope it’s more interesting than Blanche (no offense to fans, but it did nothing for me).

      • boojum
        Posted on 20 January 2010

        I was going to say the same thing. They could have dropped half the name and just called it Blah.

        • abirae
          Posted on 20 January 2010

          Poor Blanche! I happened to be pleasantly surprised by it – but not enough to shell out $200. It smelled better than what I expected “white” to be.

          I’m still trying to figure out what Ellena’s fresh musky woods will smell like. I’m now secretly hoping it smells like the wet plaster in the Cy Twombley pavilion of the Menil Collection in Houston.

          • Robin
            Posted on 21 January 2010

            That sounds compelling even though I’ve never been there.

  14. Posted on 20 January 2010

    Wow as a horse lover that vid’s got me!!
    So far the perfume I put on to go with my horses is Iris Silver Mist – think it must be those earthy carrotty irises with a bit of spice. If they are matching the wonderful visuals with the fragrance and Ellena’s genius, one would think it has to be a beautiful iris!
    And darn, I thought I had my irises covered with ISM, Mythique, and Iris Ganache…

    • abirae
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      Oooh, I like the sound of a unisex equine iris.

      • boojum
        Posted on 21 January 2010

        No idea if it’s unisex or not, since I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but have you tried PdE’s Equistrius?

  15. Posted on 20 January 2010

    definitely want to try!! I love Jean-Claude Ellena

  16. thenoseknows
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    MUST HAVE! MUST HAVE!!!! THAT BOTTLE! I think i may Faint! Just The Bee’s Knees! Merciful Heavens! I am loving it to bits and pieces! cannot wait to buy!

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      I am waiting to hear the cost — Hermes is getting more expensive all the time, and that leather (if it’s leather) worries me. But I end up buying most everything they do!

  17. Absolute Scentualist
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    Ah. If I behave myself and wait long enough, this could be part of my second quarter spending. The anticipation won’t be easy though since this sounds gorgeous. I love musk, and musk and woods sounds even better.

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      Yep. Let’s pray it’s cheap. Ha.

  18. asuperlongusername
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    I’m firmly entrenched in the GB-lover camp. Guess this means war. ;3

    I’m pretty eager to try this: I also happened to love Paprika Brasil, which was woods, right? =o (Someone commented that they thought the travel sets were now pick-and-choose as well as the old policy: I hope that’s not true because then I’ll be waiting for another few months while I save up again for an iPod.)

    Anyway, I’m kind of confused by the leather sheath comments. The case looks attached too me; they show is swinging closed. I’m imagining cardboard covered with some sort of synthetic polymer, like binders. Well, maybe metal–it is Hermes. Love it either way. Hermes always has fantastic bottles: that H on the bottom of Terre d’Hermes makes me try my sample over and over again. But no….

    • Robin
      Posted on 20 January 2010

      Yes, the case looks like it swings shut. It looked like leather, but you might be right that it’s something synthetic or even metal. Who knows — it’s not a great picture. In the video it looks like it could be metal, but it also looks almost like an animation, so ??

      • asuperlongusername
        Posted on 20 January 2010

        I kind of hope for something synthetic. Metal gets so fingerprint-y. I’m trying to think of what metallic bottle I had with which that was the case….

        • Robin
          Posted on 21 January 2010

          Repeating myself, but added a new picture & it doesn’t look like leather at all.

        • Robin
          Posted on 21 January 2010

          And now have replaced the images, and yes, it’s metal.

          • jonr951
            Posted on 21 January 2010

            I didnt see this post. Its metal!!! YAY!!!! OK you’ll probably smell it and get to go to one of their boutiques way b4 I do so can you please oh please oh please get all the prices of the 2 bottles & refill. Ive had such a hard time getting the set price on the Hermessence collection. Im still dying to try Vanille Galante & Ambre Narguile!! : )

          • Robin
            Posted on 21 January 2010

            Luckily there’s a Hermes boutique in the mall near me. Will do!

          • asuperlongusername
            Posted on 21 January 2010

            I really hope I like the juice! This bottle is so needed on my perfume shelf! xO

          • jonr951
            Posted on 21 January 2010

            Thank U Thank U!!! Ure the best Robin! Cant wait to read a review!! : )

  19. Tama
    Posted on 20 January 2010

    Love the ad – I liked the logo bit at the end, too. Should be fun to smell.

  20. Posted on 21 January 2010

    Sounds good to me…is Hermes jumping on the Tom Ford Musk bandwagon?

    • Robin
      Posted on 21 January 2010

      Gracious, I certainly hope not.

    • thenoseknows
      Posted on 21 January 2010

      well… the Tom Ford Bandwagon Ain’t that bad a bandwagon to be on, now is it???? Really? :-D Me Loves Some Tom Ford Fragrances!

  21. Posted on 21 January 2010

    And I do hope it is not like Blanche – the smelt like straight up detergent to me.

  22. Posted on 21 January 2010

    “That smelt”…

  23. rickbr
    Posted on 21 January 2010

    I think I’m the only one who didn’t got excited with this launch from Hermes. And is strange to me, because I’m generally want to try them and i wait ansiously to test. I didn’t like the bottle, it looks on pictures like a cellphone. And the description of the juice (fresh musky woods) gave me an impression that Ellena will use – again – that saturated iso e super base that he has been using a lot since declaration pour homme. I have a feeling that we’ll get a iso e super fragrance from hermes. I hope I’m wrong

    • Robin
      Posted on 21 January 2010

      I love iso e super so would have no complaints. Hard to say on the bottle until I see it…but don’t hate it from the picture. We’ll have to see!

      • rickbr
        Posted on 21 January 2010

        I alo like it, but to me it looks like all recent elena creations finishes on this note, and they look a little bit similar to the point you can’t tell which fragrance is if you spray them on skin…

  24. prism
    Posted on 21 January 2010

    i was kinda hoping the metal part would have been leather… but i guess Hermes will release such a special edition. for, like, $500 USD.

    • Robin
      Posted on 21 January 2010

      I wouldn’t mind leather but I’m sure I can’t afford it!

  25. jonr951
    Posted on 26 January 2010

    So I emailed them about where it will be launched and they said in April, only their boutiques. Bummer for me. But they also said it would be carried in wholesale accounts. Are those department stores? They didnt know the date of that. Thats all the info they could give me. : (

    • Robin
      Posted on 26 January 2010

      Yes, I would take that to mean it’s going to go through their regular distribution channels & so department stores will have it eventually.

  26. jonr951
    Posted on 26 January 2010

    YAY!!!!!!!!! Im so excited!!!!! It’ll probably take a yr to get everywhere else w/ my luck. : (

    • Robin
      Posted on 26 January 2010

      Oh, I don’t think so — I think this will be a major release. I heard Hermes boutiques might have it by late March, everywhere else by April. But of course we’ll have to wait & see!

  27. jonr951
    Posted on 26 January 2010

    Yes we will unfortunately. I hate playing the waiting game.

  28. sasha
    Posted on 13 March 2010

    What a unique story! Once again Hermes does it like nobody else. Not the usual story of a man flirting with a woman. Something more subtle like all the fragrances from this house. Can’t wait to smell this new scent by Jean Claude Ellena.

  29. njrangergirl
    Posted on 15 March 2010

    I am wearing this right now. I LOVE IT! I wish I was well versed enough to describe it all to you. I stopped in Hermes this afternoon to pick up a Vetiver Tonka and Vanille Galante and a sales associate said I just love the new fragrance. I asked for a sample and just sprayed on my first shot. The scent is gorgeous. I’m an Ellena devotee.

    • Robin
      Posted on 15 March 2010

      So glad you love it, I love it too.

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