A few days ago, Balenciaga unveiled a new line of fragrances that were made immediately available at its new Balenciaga Fragrance Store in Paris, located at the House’s historic 10 avenue George V address. But it was months ago during Paris Fashion Week Men's in June that we were invited to a private preview of the fragrance collection at the then-yet-to-be-opened fragrance store. It was kept completely hushed that we weren't allowed to take any photos or videos, and only took away memories of the scents.
The new line of Balenciaga fragrances marks the beginning of a new olfactory chapter for the House—the last Balenciaga fragrance was the B. Balenciaga Intense released in 2016 under Coty. Now, the relaunch of the fragrance arm of the House is directly managed by Kering Beauté. And yes, it is a relaunch; Balenciaga is starting its fragrance line afresh.
Conceived during now-former creative director Demna's time at the House, the fragrance collection is inspired by founder Cristóbal Balenciaga's very first perfume, Le Dix. The House went on a 15-year search that culminated in the discovery of Le Dix's perfume bottle from 1947. Every detail of the bottle was scanned in order to reproduce it for the collection's flaçons. And much like how the original was found, the labels on the new line have been intentionally aged. Each fragrance is housed within a box that's a revival of the original Le Dix fragrance box, and then set within Balenciaga's current industrial grey packaging—almost like a rediscovery of the old within the new.
Balenciaga seemed to take the inspiration of Le Dix as a blueprint to the conception of the fragrance collection, because there are 10 scents in total. While all 10 are formulated as eau de parfums, the intensity gradually varies, reflective of the hues of their contents. The collection begins with No Comment that's woody with the freshness of Spanish cypress oil, and ends with the jet-black Incense Perfumum concocted with a trio of incense oils coupled with the warmth of cedarwood and Spanish labdanum resin. Each scent is individualistic but the connecting thread is an overarching nod to time-honoured perfumery techniques and ingredients merged with an innovative spirit. Even Le Dix has been reconstructed and reimagined with iris aldehydes, while retaining its bold, oversized silhouette.
Each fragrance is available in a 100ml flaçon, a 15ml travel spray, as well as a 200ml refill bottle. There's also a set consisting of all 10 fragrances in individual 10ml flaçons that are arranged as though they're guests at a Balenciaga fashion show. But perhaps the most clever is the discovery set—all 10 in 2ml bottles—that's packaged to look like a cigarette case.
Aside from the fragrance collection, Balenciaga has also designed a few accoutrements to go along with the experience. These range from a travel case in chrome finish to charms shaped like the flaçons. For now, they're available at the Balenciaga Fragrance Store on 10 avenue George V in Paris' eighth arrondissement, as well as at select Balenciaga stores in Europe and North America and on balenciaga.com. We will have to wait a bit more before they're launched this side of the world, but something tells us that we probably won't have to wait long.
