Diptyque (2007), written by perfume author Elisabeth de Feydeau, is perhaps best described as a tribute to three friends who got together by chance, and went on to create a business with a very distinct signature. Although they came from different backgrounds, they shared a passion for art and design, and had the same views on aesthetics and presentation. This beautifully illustrated book traces back the history of Diptyque and its founders, giving an elaborate reconstruction of one of the most remarkable cult brands in perfumery.
Desmond Knox-Leet, Yves Coueslant and Christiane Gautrot opened their first shop in 1961, on the Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris, where they initially sold plain and printed furnishing fabrics. The former lingerie store at number 34 was located near Place Maubert, and just a few steps away from the Piscine Pontoise, a well-known public swimming pool…
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Posted by Robin
on
8 February 2008
Diptyque, a new book by Elisabeth de Feydeau, tells the story of the cult brand established by three friends, painter Desmond Knox-Leet, set designer Yves Coueslant and decorator Christiane Gautrot, in 1961.
199 pages, 226 illustrations. In French; published by Perrin. (found via madame.lefigaro.fr)
Other books by Elisabeth de Feydeau: A Scented Palace (in English), L'un des sens : Le parfum au XXe siècle (in French, with Marie-Christine Grasse & Freddy Ghozland).
L’un des sens — a French wordplay on the term indecency — was originally the title of a magazine on olfaction and perfumery, edited by Sylvie de Chirée and Brigitt Hörlin, and published somewhere in the late ’80s. I don’t know whatever became of that magazine, but the clever title was re-used in 2001 by Marie-Christine Grasse, Elisabeth de Feydeau, and Freddy Ghozland for their book on 20th century perfumes. L’un des sens (2001) is perhaps best described as a ‘hardcopy’ slideshow: it’s a lavishly illustrated, chronological compilation of perfumes launched between 1900 and 2000, from Houbigant’s Parfum Idéal to Flowers by Kenzo.
A tribute to the beauty of modern perfumery, then. So is this just another coffee-table book? No, it’s more than that. L’un des sens is different from the titles we’ve discussed so far, in that it also celebrates the great women of the past century. After all, the authors argue, perfume has been associated with femininity for the largest part of the 20th century; and indeed, the growing use of perfume is in many ways related to the liberation of women from old social restraints (think of the Victorian era, for example)…
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Posted by Robin
on
7 August 2006
Elisabeth de Feydeau's biography of Marie Antoinette's perfumer, A Scented Palace, inspired Hannah Betts of the UK Times Online to pay a visit to Versailles:
…And, most evocatively, a powder-blue cabinet room, festooned with peacocks (an emblem of motherhood), with chair handles carved in the image of her favourite dog. This was the queen’s refuge, her powder room, in effect, and one still holds one’s breath in anticipation of its rouged, fragrant occupant. It was here that Marie Antoinette sought solace from stifling palace etiquette. As with today’s celebrities, chief among her confidants were her fellow image-makers: her couturière, Rose Bertin, her hairdresser, Léonard, and her perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon.
Read the rest of the article here, and many thanks to Ruth for the link.
The UK's Daily Record has an interesting article on some of the more unusual fragrance releases this year…
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Posted by Robin
on
21 May 2006
Elisabeth de Feydeau, author of A Scented Palace, on Marie Antoinette's daily bathing habits:
Each day, she dipped in a tub laced with a confection of blanched sweet almonds, pine nuts, linseed, marshmallow root and lily bulb, then rubbed her body clean with a sachet of bran.
A Scented Palace is about Marie Antoinette’s perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon. You may remember that last year Francis Kurkdjian recreated Sillage de la Reine, one of the perfumes Fargeon developed for the Queen, after Feydeau discovered the recipe in the French National Archives…
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