KEY POINTS:
Etienne de Swardt's perfumes aren't your usual pretty florals. The founder of the Etat Libre d'Orange line is more keen on combining jasmine and cigarettes or how about eau de slut? That would be de Swardt's Hotel Slut fragrance you'd be wanting.
"Perfume is dead, long live perfume," he says of over the phone from Paris. The range will be available from Mecca Cosmetica later this month.
In his former role as head of marketing development at LVMH's cosmetic and fragrance division, de Swardt's idea for an Alexander McQueen fragrance was turned down for being too edgy. Later, under pressure to launch the first fragrance for Louis Vuitton, he pitched the idea of a dog perfume called Oh My Dog. When this too was rebuked he left to launch it himself. Oh My Dog, was followed by Oh My Cat, both of which went on to become bestsellers, and whenhe set up his latest venture he revisited the idea originally spurned by McQueen. The result? Magnificent Secretions, based on the concept of blood, semen, sweat and saliva.
"The idea is to do things on a different level. I want to bring talented perfumers on a road less travelled."
He describes Etat Libre d'Orange as "for and by the perfumer" with his role that of "talent assembler". When de Swardt speaks of creating "olfactory freedom" he means for both the perfumer and the wearer. Noses are given a theme created by him and conceptulised by a team of writers. They are then given carte blanche to deliver their interpretation of that theme.
What do the perfumers think about being given a brief such as Hotel Slut or Delicious Drag Queen? Etat Libre d'Orange uses highly regarded perfumers who have worked for leading fragrance houses such as Armani, Paul Smith, Burberry and Gucci, and de Swardt says they embrace the creative freedom.
"I remember saying to Nathalie (Feisthauer, one of his perfumers) - I want you to be my beautiful hotel slut. I want you to create a hotel of the 19th Century - do it like a painting. She was excited, she's a talented perfumer. She did [fragrances including] Hermes and Versace and she said `I've got a beautiful rice powder note on which to build and that was the beginning of the painting'. And she was free to create".
The result was Hotel Slut, built on notes of rose, violet, lily of the valley, face powder, ginger and amber.
He does admit Magnificent Secretions is an "acquired taste" although he insists it has a high number of repeat purchases. For those a little less bold in their fragrance choice, Jasmine and Cigarettes conjures up a different sort of seduction with images of Garbo, Dietrich and Jane Birkin.
