Pillar of Guerlain Haute Parfumerie, L’Art & La Matière collection embodies the House of Guerlain masterpiece in which Iris Torréfié is revealed as the new opus. An exceptional raw material and a favourite ingredient at Guerlain, the iris has been reinterpreted and transfigured in a surprising encounter with coffee. From the encounter of the cosmetic scent of lipstick with a steaming-hot cup of coffee, this new fragrance is born.
In a collection conceived like a laboratory of fragrances, exceptional varieties of the most beautiful materials are accentuated in the Guerlain style. Exalted, iris is surrounded by other elements that frame and enhance it, while also teasing and disturbing it. In this collection, the perfumer-turned-artist has composed their work like a writer piecing together their words or a painter organising their colours. Upon the perfumer’s palette lies the richness and subtlety of an ingredient whose name is synonymous with vibrancy. For this collection, the Perfumer virtuoso had free rein to reinterpret beloved ingredients of the House, using originality, daring or even transgression in creations that staunchly go against the grain of classic practice.
Iris is a symbol of protection and wisdom, but in perfumery, it remains one of the most delicate and precious scents in existence. Today, it shines in the
L’Art & La Matière collection.
Expertise, savoir-faire, high quality and creative freedom are the signatures of this precious collection in which art meets exceptional materials. Today, a refined, powdery iris is awakened in the collection through its surprising encounter with coffee.
An incredibly noble material, majestic iris blossoms in this new chapter of L’Art & La Matière: Iris Torréfié. For this composition, an iris of remarkable quality was chosen: iris pallida. In elevating this magnificent flower, House of Guerlain Perfumer Delphine Jelk, alongside Master Perfumer Thierry Wasser, wanted
to “make the iris smile and allow it to display its vibrant energy”. An extraordinary, explosive encounter between full-bodied flavour and subtle sweetness, as smooth and powdery iris takes on powerful coffee in an olfactory tête-à-tête, before joining forces with it.
Delphine Jelk came up with the idea for this new fragrance when thinking about the iconic cafés of Paris. With their lively terraces, the buzz of the capital and the myriad of scents, they are part of a French art de vivre that invites us on a carefree stroll in a space where time stands still. This was the reverie
that inspired the Perfumer. Immerse yourself in the glory days of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, when writers came together, recounted stories and reinvented the world at the cafés of the Rive Gauche (Left Bank in English).
From Guillaume Apollinaire to Boris Vian to Françoise Sagan, memories of their visits still inhabit these now-legendary locations, like Le Café de Flore or Les Deux Magots, for instance. These iconic sites have preserved their prestige
and magic and are now frequented by figures from the worlds of music and cinema, such as Catherine Deneuve or Sofia Coppola.
The coffee-coloured perfume is housed in a bottle with sleek, modern contours, decorated with a golden metal panel on the edge, just like a precious hardback book.
The top notes immediately reveal intense and full-bodied coffee, accentuated with cardamom and a hint of zesty bergamot. At the heart, sensuous iris blooms in its most exceptional variety: iris pallida butter, enriched by the presence of ambrette seed. The base echoes a distinctively Guerlain touch: vanilla tincture, whose woody, leather quality prevails over its indulgent
character. Then emerges what Guerlain Perfumer Delphine Jelk calls “the Shalimar amber”: opopanine, that balsamic, ambery note that sneaks in among iris and coffee. A woody-floral Eau de Parfum, situated between strength and subtlety, in a surprising duet where the elegance and finesse of iris combine with the vibrant and intense character of coffee. An elegant wooden cap brings this beautiful work to completion. The bottle nestles within a “leather-feel” amethyst case (that can be turned into a jewellery box as you wish).
A favourite ingredient of the House that is found in the Guerlinade, the iris features in numerous compositions. Since the early 20th century, it has blossomed in Après l’Ondée and flourished in L’Heure Bleue. The oriental Shalimar also incorporates iris in its composition. More recently, it has appeared in Insolence, L’Heure de Nuit and Mademoiselle Guerlain. Finally, in L’Initial, the newest addition to the Les Parisiennes collection, iris pays a magnificently contemporary tribute to the legendary Shalimar. For Delphine Jelk: “The iris, even when it isn’t the main component, still plays a major role in the powdery signature of Guerlain fragrances.” Today, a new iris flourishes in the L’Art & La Matière collection.
A precious, prized material, it has earned its nickname as the perfumer’s blue gold. Sweet with subtle richness, its complex fragrance is delicately revealed through powdery, woody, violet tones. It is not the iris flower that gives us the scent, but its rhizomes. Harvested from the plant in its third year of growth, the rhizomes are dried for three more years to allow their scent to develop. They are then crushed, distilled and transformed into a concrete or resinoid. The finest variety used for perfumery is iris pallida, which is no longer cultivated exclusively in Tuscany, now also flowering in Turkey and China. For Iris Torréfié, the pallida was used, taking the form of an iris butter.
In botany, the iris exists in multiple varieties, from a discreet little flower in a cluster of leaves to a baroque exuberance of petals. This magnificent flower is associated with a messenger of the gods in Greek mythology, often representing a good omen. Close companion of Hera, goddess and wife of Zeus, Iris would purify her with perfumes upon her return from the underworld. Frequently depicted with wings, Iris remains closely connected
with the radiant figure of the rainbow, which she would create as she passed by, unfurling her flowing shawl.
