Collaborations are a cornerstone of the Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle brand.
Frédéric Malle collaborates with each architect, designer or artist in the same way he does with perfumers,
with an approach grounded in mutual respect and total creative freedom.
Alber Elbaz : A Portrait by Frederic Malle
I discovered Alber Elbaz’s work in the 90s, when Pierre Bergé appointed him head designer of Yves Saint Laurent. I saw in Alber what I now see in my perfumers: an ability to modernize the classics for a new generation.
I discovered Alber Elbaz’s work in the 90s, when Pierre Bergé appointed him head designer of Yves Saint Laurent. I saw in Alber what I now see in my perfumers: an ability to modernize the classics for a new generation.
As fate would have it, Alber has now met his match in the perfume world. The result of our unique collaboration with Dominique Ropion, born from the convergence of creative vision and mutual admiration, is the elusive scent of a dress: a classic floral aldehydic perfume that structures Alber’s vision of an elaborate fabric in which everyone can find their own beauty.
Alber resists a world that seeks to impose categories rather than free us from them. He considers intuition to be an inexhaustible source of freedom in the face of hyper-order, and beauty to lie in the irrational and the inexplicable. Superstitious is an invitation to discover that this mystery is, in fact, beautiful. So as a confessionary gesture of shared superstition, Alber and I signed the black bottle with his sketch of the evil eye, drawn one day in a Parisian café on the corner of a napkin. Beauty, we have always thought, can be found in the most unexpected of places.
Promise by Dominique Ropion is our newest addition to the Middle East collection, and a perfume one does not easily forget. Two precious varieties of rose, lifted by apple, pink pepper and clove, and bound to a sensuous base of patchouli, cypriol and labdanum, celebrate one of the strongest bonds in human relationships, keeping one’s word.
A new Editions de Parfums store is opening in Milan this month, designed by Frédéric Malle himself as his own Milanese pied-à-terre. Adapting his own taste to the original structure and style of the building, he has married 1940s neoclassicism with constellation of modern objects in a paradigm of architectural rigor.
Laguna B, a leader in Venetian glass craftsmanship, has created a limited edition line for Frédéric Malle of five candles in Murano glass. Colorful, playfully extravagant and skillfully executed, each candle is a unique collector’s item, never again replicated.
I have always loved Jakob + MacFarlane for its work in the restaurant Georges at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. The restaurant remains, to this day, a futuristic fantasy, perfectly unexpected.
I have always loved Jakob + MacFarlane for its work in the restaurant Georges at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.The restaurant remains, to this day, a futuristic fantasy, perfectly unexpected.
It was not until I revisited the Florence Loewy bookstore in the Marais, home to Jakob + MacFarlane’s “hive” of plywood bookshelves, that I found inspiration for my own Marais boutique.
The architects and I subsequently joined forces and envisioned a place where imagination knows no bounds: a design that defies the laws of nature with a structure of floating islands that appear suspended in time. More precisely, a mirrored box, slipped into the existing shell of a historic building, where a cluster of buoyant islands could be reflected into infinity. The endless visual complexity produced by the mirrors is an invitation to reflect on your own, while choosing the perfume that defines you.
Promise by Dominique Ropion is our newest addition to the Middle East collection, and a perfume one does not easily forget. Two precious varieties of rose, lifted by apple, pink pepper and clove, and bound to a sensuous base of patchouli, cypriol and labdanum, celebrate one of the strongest bonds in human relationships, keeping one’s word.
A new Editions de Parfums store is opening in Milan this month, designed by Frédéric Malle himself as his own Milanese pied-à-terre. Adapting his own taste to the original structure and style of the building, he has married 1940s neoclassicism with constellation of modern objects in a paradigm of architectural rigor.
Laguna B, a leader in Venetian glass craftsmanship, has created a limited edition line for Frédéric Malle of five candles in Murano glass. Colorful, playfully extravagant and skillfully executed, each candle is a unique collector’s item, never again replicated.
I sought in 94 Greenwich what I seek in my perfumes: a space that could stand the test of time; a future “classic”, as it were. This ambition called for a space that was both at one and at odds with its area, that both drew on the past and looked to the future.
I sought in 94 Greenwich what I seek in my perfumes: a space that could stand the test of time; a future “classic”, as it were. This ambition called for a space that was both at one and at odds with its area, that both drew on the past and looked to the future.
When considering the venue’s location in the West Village, as well as the limited size of the store, I immediately thought of New York-based Steven Holl, who, as well as being one of the greatest architects of our era, had achieved incredible lighting feats in small spaces, notably D.E. Shaw’s offices in NY. His free and unexpected use of shapes – in the Y House in the Catskills, in the Storefront for Art and Architecture in NY, or in significantly larger projects like Linked Hybrid in Beijing – holds the singular power of being able to revolutionize a space on any scale, including one as small as that of 94 Greenwich.
I suggested to Steven that we build the store “like a drawer”, with an exterior and interior of the same style and material, appearing as if it had been slotted into the brownstone. Steven’s only request was that I bring the lighting magician Hervé Descottes on board. Having heard of Hervé’s remarkable talent, and already convinced that he would bring that “missing something” to Steven’s design, I gladly agreed. As for the design itself, it features a new material called Aluminum Foam – a new obsession of mine – that I first saw in Steven’s office in the form of a great panel door. Steven indulged me and used it again for the store, contrasting it with fragmented, futuristic semi-circles of Walnut wood.
Promise by Dominique Ropion is our newest addition to the Middle East collection, and a perfume one does not easily forget. Two precious varieties of rose, lifted by apple, pink pepper and clove, and bound to a sensuous base of patchouli, cypriol and labdanum, celebrate one of the strongest bonds in human relationships, keeping one’s word.
A new Editions de Parfums store is opening in Milan this month, designed by Frédéric Malle himself as his own Milanese pied-à-terre. Adapting his own taste to the original structure and style of the building, he has married 1940s neoclassicism with constellation of modern objects in a paradigm of architectural rigor.
Laguna B, a leader in Venetian glass craftsmanship, has created a limited edition line for Frédéric Malle of five candles in Murano glass. Colorful, playfully extravagant and skillfully executed, each candle is a unique collector’s item, never again replicated.
It seems to me that the enveloping warmth of Dries Van Noten’s aesthetic – enriched with embroidered Indian motifs, scenes from 18th century engravings, and stark color contrasts – springs not only from harsh Belgian winters, but also from the country’s history as one of the great trade hubs in the days of empire. Thick textures, colorful prints and Indian spices introduced a kind of domestic comfort that is now inherent to Flemish life and to Dries’ designs.
It seems to me that the enveloping warmth of Dries Van Noten’s aesthetic – enriched with embroidered Indian motifs, scenes from 18th century engravings, and stark color contrasts – springs not only from harsh Belgian winters, but also from the country’s history as one of the great trade hubs in the days of empire. Thick textures, colorful prints and Indian spices introduced a kind of domestic comfort that is now inherent to Flemish life and to Dries’ designs.
I asked Bruno Jovanovic – who possesses a flair for warm scents – to compose a perfume around Dries’ world. He decided to compose it around natural sandalwood, which he chose for being simultaneously soft and exotic, homely and unusual.
Allying sandalwood’s milky aspect with vanilla, saffron and sacrasol, and tempering it with a jasmine and white musk accord, Bruno created a lasting effect of buttery warmth, reminiscent of milky tea and speculoos biscuits, to see you through the winter. Like a couture winter coat and so many of Dries’ pieces, it is timeless, classic, and yet, ever so sensuous.
Promise by Dominique Ropion is our newest addition to the Middle East collection, and a perfume one does not easily forget. Two precious varieties of rose, lifted by apple, pink pepper and clove, and bound to a sensuous base of patchouli, cypriol and labdanum, celebrate one of the strongest bonds in human relationships, keeping one’s word.
A new Editions de Parfums store is opening in Milan this month, designed by Frédéric Malle himself as his own Milanese pied-à-terre. Adapting his own taste to the original structure and style of the building, he has married 1940s neoclassicism with constellation of modern objects in a paradigm of architectural rigor.
Laguna B, a leader in Venetian glass craftsmanship, has created a limited edition line for Frédéric Malle of five candles in Murano glass. Colorful, playfully extravagant and skillfully executed, each candle is a unique collector’s item, never again replicated.