The perfume of a dreamlike reality
B683 and Ganymede. Two enigmatic words, two names of perfumes that open up imaginary worlds. Transformed in a few letters into fragrant traces, two fragments of the universe that tell of the inspirations and endeavours of two minds, the perfumer Quentin Bisch and the fashion designer Marc-Antoine Barrois.
B683, the first fragrance from the House of Marc-Antoine Barrois, was released in 2016 and was an invitation to discover the creative universe of the French fashion designer and his imaginary planet. The authentic elegance was characterised by souvenirs such as the sweet and intense leather of a beautiful briefcase and a desk pad marked by the patina of time, or the warm and woody scent of welcoming houses and family walks in nature.
For this new work, the destination is somewhere else. The two artists dreamed up a new planet and created an elegant and unexpected harmony under the sign of a quartet of mandarin, violet, immortelle and suede: Ganymede, the rocky moon of Jupiter, discovered by Galileo in 1610, is both luminous and covered with saltwater oceans. It takes its name from Greek mythology: a young man, Ganymede, was abducted by the gods, who were so enchanted by his beauty that they offered him immortality.
Ganymede was composed by perfumer Quentin Bisch and once again makes use of the wild leathery notes that made B683 a wonderful classic. This time, however, the artists broke free from traditional guidelines to take us to a different place, towards a luminous and fluid elegance. The leather notes become softer, gaining lightness and softness in combination with the scent of violet. The mandarin fragrance brings in all its liveliness and tart essence. The latter lends the fragrance depth right from the start. Immortelle is the counterpart and enhances the harmony of the fragrance with its two-sided scent, which is sometimes mineral and sometimes salty.
The entire composition plays with contrasts and opposites. The notes respond to each other in constant dialogue and draw a new fragrance map on the skin, on the lapel of a cashmere jacket or right next to the buttons of the sleeves, on the wrist. If you could reduce everything to one image, it would be a compass: North for the sparkling vibrancy of mandarin, to which the south would respond with immortelle and emphasise this fragrance framework, the density of the suede notes in the west would balance the subtle and delicate florality of violet in the east. These are the four directions of the perfume journey towards a new imaginary world and new codes of elegance.
‘If B683 was inspired by a souvenir, Ganymede comes from the idea of a new elegance that is timeless and fluid.’
Here is a mandarin,
lively and tart, full of:
Youth and vigour.
And here comes the violet,
attractive and sophisticated,
with suede accents,
for chic and elegance.
And this immortelle blossom, salty,
that plays throughout the fragrance,
like the longed-for skin of lovers,
like a dreamed souvenir,
of a wafting sea breeze,
on the edge of Jupiter.’
Ganymede is not just a perfume with a good scent that lingers on the skin and leaves a tantalising trail. It is also a good perfume. Its natural stability allowed us to do without butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). BHT has often been criticised and is still widely used as a preservative in perfumes and cosmetics. The choice of many natural essences and the decision to bring the perfume concentration to 25% gives it a beautiful light golden glow. The colour can develop over time, but does not require a dye or UV protectant. We want to reduce the use of chemicals that are suspected to be harmful to our health, we have simplified the composition of this second perfume to use only perfume concentrate in denatured alcohol.
