A new perfumer joining the house Anne Flipo, Artist of Greens Anne Flipo is a translator of memories. She grew up in the Northeast of France surrounded by verdant gardens, and from a young age, had an unusual sensitivity to the natural world and the season’s changes: to weather, to seasons, to life cycles. In perfume, Flipo discovered a way to reconstruct her childhood memories through technical expertise. By allying her passionate love of nature with meticulous craftsmanship, was able to share this olfactory dream world with others — and in the process, became one of the most highly respected “master perfumers” in the profession. At the vanguard of a new generation of contemporary craftspeople, Flipo has composed numerous successful scents both feminine and masculine. She has never made a secret of her addiction to floral and green palettes, making her a natural choice to compose Synthetic Nature, her first work for Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle.
A New Olfactory Territory – A Seamless Blend of the Organic and Synthetic
Inspired by the green accord of Estee Lauder’s personal scent, Private Collection. Flipo retained the opulent basil of the original composition, along with a recomposed bouquet of hyacinth, lily of the valley, natural jasmine, and Ylang Ylang oil. To modernize and sharpen, she then added synthetic black currant and styralyl acetate, effectively putting the bouquet through a glossy, sparkling filter. Flipo simplified the Chypre and leather notes, resulting in a cleaner, more streamlined accord. Finally, she added patchouli - one of the most complex, multifaceted ingredients in the perfumer’s palette and one of the most evocative. Both earthy and classical, patchouli oil links the vegetal and human, effectively rooting a perfume to the skin. The resulting scent is both contemporary and warm, a seamless blend of the organic and synthetic.
Synthetic Nature
“The paradox is that using naturals leads to ‘old perfume ’smells,” Frederic Malle explains. “To actually replicate nature as we know it, you need synthetics. Perfume becomes interesting the moment chemistry comes in.” This results not merely in the possibility of more exact replicas, but also of interpretation -something more complex, multidimensional and intriguing than nature itself.
Stylized Landscape In Technicolor Green
Bright and lush, mysterious and provocative, Synthetic Jungle is a stylized landscape in technicolor greens. An ode to cult perfumes of the 1970s, Synthetic Nature offers a modern vision of nature reimagined. not the literal representation of a Nature but rather a dreamlike experience of verdancy and warmth: natural and stylized, hyperrealistic and fantastical.
Inspirations
In creating Synthetic Nature, Frédéric Malle’sreferences were as varied as the gentle, teeming canvases of Henri Rousseau, the sharp-focused world of James Cameron’s Avatar, and Stevie Wonder’s visionary 1979 album The Secret Life of Plants.
