The inspiration
The '30s and modernism. From Marlene Dietrich to Robert Mallet-Stevens.
The '30s
Mass culture from the United States sought an antidote to the Great Depression in Hollywood glamour, crooners, swing and Broadway musicals.
Modernism then became widespread throughout society thanks to movements such as Art Deco and Bauhaus, while cinema paid homage to its new icons such as Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow and Marlene Dietrich. The latter would influence women around the world by imposing a style that oscillated between supposed androgyny and theatrical glamour in the unreal cloud of their cigarette smoke.
Modernism, architecture and Robert Mallet-Stevens
Inaugurated in 1932, the Villa Cavrois exemplifies the lifestyle associated with modernist architecture: bright, simple and elegant. ‘In the east wing of the villa designed by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, Paul Cavrois' office, with its natural pear wood furniture, opens onto the smoking room, a small round room with the flair of an ocean liner cabin, featuring a mahogany cigar cabinet and leather benches.’
The warm, woody volutes of tobacco absolutes tinged with hay and honey settle on the scents of mahogany wood, preceded by the fruity-green freshness of pear tree leaves.
The intention
"Between the spicy glow of Cozé and the balsamic and liqueur-like opulence of Liqueur Charnelle, Animal Mondain joins my collection as a new tobacco fragrance. An unisex olfactory creation inspired by the modernist architecture of a Mallet-Stevens smoking room. The laughter of a convivial gathering disperses the tobacco smoke, which gently spreads across the leather armchairs and along the pear wood and mahogany..." – Pierre Guillaume
