Heritage · Chapter I
Narrative Perfumery
The art of telling a true story through scent: one story, one date, one perfume.
narrative perfume/ˈnær.ə.tɪv ˈpɜː.fjuːm/
A perfume composed to tell one true story, named after it and dated to the day it happened. Its materials are chosen by the story and reduced to the few it needs.
What is a narrative perfume?
A story you can wear
Most perfumes begin with a material, a mood or a market. A narrative perfume begins with something that really happened: a vivid personal memory, an unexpected encounter, or a forgotten chapter of history where reality proves far more captivating than fiction.
The story is researched until it has a date. Then it is told three times: once in scent, once in the booklet inside the Pillar Box, and once in a short film with its characters.
“Reality is stranger than fiction.”
Three principles
What every narrative keeps
- I
A true story
Never invented. The perfume can be playful; the story is real.
- II
A date
Printed on the box, under the name, as a chapter heading.
- III
The art of reduction
Only the materials the story needs, and not one more.
From story to bottle
How a narrative is made
- I
The story is found
In a memory, an archive, a conversation.
- II
It is researched and dated
Until it can be told precisely, to the day.
- III
It is reduced
To the scenes that matter, then to the materials that tell them.
- IV
It is composed
In Geneva, as an Eau de Parfum at 25% concentration.
- V
It is told again
In the Pillar Box, the booklet and the film.
Parfum Narratif · Eau de Parfum
Start with the Discovery Set
Its full value is credited toward your bottle, online only.
Questions
About narrative perfumery
Are the stories true?
Yes. Every narrative is built on a real event, dated to the day it happened.
Is narrative perfumery a scent family?
No. It is a way of composing rather than a family: each narrative belongs to the family its story calls for.
How is it different from niche perfumery?
A narrative perfume begins with a true, dated story rather than a material or a trend, and the story is told again in a booklet and a film.
Where can I smell the narratives?
At home with the Discovery Set, or with our stockists.
