FASHION®

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GANT FRAGRANCE
GOES GLOBAL
(continued from page 36)
the DNA of our company—the nautical world of GANT.”
Mr. Wulff commented on the extremely professional
people he worked with at GANT in the development of
the fragrance. “After meeting with Susannah [Wendt,
Director of Licensing at GANT AB], in Stockholm about
the idea of a GANT fragrance, I brought it back to Jérôme
with whom I worked on the juice.”
GANT’s Regent Street window in London features GANT fragrance
for men.
The GANT flagship store in Stockholm presents
GANT fragrance for men.
“We based this
s i g n a t u r e f ra -
grance of GANT
on the history
of the brand. It
suggests sailing
yachts, with the
freshness of the
o c e a n i n i t s
marine notes as
well as the combination
of dark
and light woods
a n d a s u e d e
accord.”
“I also had the
pleasure of working
with Pierre
[Dinand] again,
wh o m I h ave
known since I was 17 years old. Everything has been so
easy,” he continued, “and 18 months after our first
discussions about the fragrance, it is here in-store. GANT
has done a fantastic job.” BF
DECEMBER 2011 / 55 / BEAUTY FASHION
EXPLORING THE
WORLD
OF SCENT
IFF’s Arnaud Montet, Le Labo’s Fabrice Penot, ICONOfly’s Olivia
Bransbourg and Columbia University’s Dr. Stuart Firestein discuss the
mysteries of fragrance with W’s Jane Larkworthy.
International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), in partnership with
French Institute Alliance Française, held a panel discussion
entitled “The Power of Fragrance” on November 10 in
New York City. The sold-out event explored the ways in which
the sense of smell affects how we perceive the world and the
cultural impacts of scent. The panel was moderated by Jane
Larkworthy, Beauty Director of W, and featured Olivia
Bransbourg, Founder of ICONOfly; Dr. Stuart Firestein, Chair
of Columbia University’s Department of Biological Sciences;
Fabrice Penot, Co-Founder of Le Labo and Arnaud Montet,
Global Director of Consumer Science at IFF.
Though human beings all smell in the same way, perception
of scent is cultural. “We all receive the same information,
but as soon as scent enters the nose, it becomes an
individual experience,” said Mr. Montet. Panelists agreed
that a preference for scent is largely based on past experiences.
A video with interviews from various members of the
fragrance industry, created by Ms. Bransbourg, revealed that
one third of the participants were partial to scents associated
with their mothers.
The speakers affirmed that selecting a fragrance is a highly
individual task, but viewpoints on the way consumers
should decide on a personal scent varied. “Fragrance today
is an identity. It is about ‘Who am I? Who do I want to be?’”
stated Mr. Montet. “A fragrance is an introduction to someone’s
personality and not only the actual scent, but also the
marketing surrounding a fragrance.” Mr. Penot had a differing
standpoint, asserting consumers must disregard marketing
campaigns entirely and trust their intuition when choosing
a perfume.
While panelists were in agreement that scent subconsciously
plays a large role in attraction and finding a mate,
Dr. Firestein presented a negative side to scent when he
stated that odors people perceive as “off” are often difficult
to overlook. “Could you learn to love a scent that you
detest?” asked Ms. Larkworthy. Much to the amusement of
the audience, Dr. Firestein quipped, “There would have to
be a big reward.” BF
Junenoire Mitchell
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