Laura Albert interviews Diane Pernet of ASVOFF about her new Perfume

                                              Diane Pernet : Founder and Director of ASVOFF

Photo: Alan Gelati

 

Interview by: Laura Albert

Laura:

You are one of the most generous supporters of fashion scenes all over the world. What is unique about you is you absorb all around a creation of art -- as you are able to inhabit the realm of mystique,the spiritual, the divine and you share so freely of your sensibilities, it makes sense to be that scent is yet another way to share your joy is realm of creative arts. Please talk about how you came to finally put this into action, your process.

 

Diane:

 Fragrance is directly on one’s skin, closest to the body – closer than any piece of clothing. I think of perfume as a sensual part of beauty.  It doesn’t need anything else but your skin to work its magic.  I only want to make perfumes that I would want to wear myself and that felt close to my universe. My approach was to envision a vignette which would offer cues for the formula of each fragrance and then continuously adapt the trials until we got it just right.  The entire process has been magical for me. But of course the real magic then comes into play knowing that someone else will wear the same fragrance – and imagining how they will reinterpret my vignette into one of their own. 

Creating the perfumes was something that I had dreamed of when I was designing my own brand back in the 80’s. I was not in a position to do it at that time and about 3 years ago I met with Cristiano Seganfreddo who said 'now is the time for you to create your own perfumes and I know just the person to introduce you to who can make that happen'. He introduced me to the CEO of Intertrade Group,Celso Fadelli and that is where the adventure began.

 

Laura:

Everyone raves about your scents, and how they have layers and

textures that seem to unravel -  what was the alchemy you created to

achieve this ?

Diane:

I started out with a brief and probably the easiest way to answer this is to give you my thoughts, I don’t really have a favorite, there are certain times that I’d prefer to wear one over another. For instance if I wanted to feel particularly invigorated, I’d wear In Pursuit of Magic, more sensual, WANTED, plunging into the passionate depths of the ocean, both cleansing and exhilarating, SHADED and peaceful and serene, To Be Honest. I love changing them according to my moods.

TO BE HONEST

To be honest captures the experience of stumbling upon an ancient church while walking through

the woods. !e green and woody fragrance follows you inside. Candles burn silently, their lights still

flickering. A waft of incense lingers high above the altar as if the congregation has just vanished.

!ere are notes of myrrh, black pepper, cedar wood, patchouli, vetiver and amber.

 

WANTED

Wanted is reminiscent of an oriental garden as the mist rolls in. Slightly dishevelled and overgrown,

moss clings to stone statues obscured by twisting trees and shrubs. Bursts of exotic scents are

elevated by a delicate cloud of steam. there are notes of clove, juniper, nutmeg, leather with a little

musk accord in the air. And the film Night Porter with Charlotte Rampling.

 

 

IN PURSUIT OF MAGIC

In Pursuit of Magic makes you feel as if you’ve entered a familiar yet parallel world. Standing atop a

hillside temple, time is lost in a moment of sensory overload. !e refreshing citrus air simultaneously

invigorates and purifies you. Tart, clean, intense, restored and protected.

 

SHADED

Shaded evokes a nocturnal bath in the sea. !e salt on your skin, a subtle incense and new-found

sensations await a secret lover’s encounter. Lightly caressed in the ocean mist, every feeling is shaded

by an intense plume of vetiver and surrounded by the deepest touch of musk and guaiac wood. The Film Swept Away with Giancarlo Gianni

 

 

Laura:

You have an Internationally respected fashion film festival. I thought it was genius to use short fashion film medium to present your scent. How did you come up with the concepts?

 

Diane:

The most important aspect of the films is the director, Mike Figgis, who I adore ever since I saw his award winning film Leaving Las Vegas with Nicolas Cage, then of course Timecode which changed the landscape of independent cinema so when I decided to make a series of perfumes I could not imagine not also creating films. Because I adore the work and sensibility of Mike I wanted to give him a carte blanche. I sent him the fragrances to get him inspired. At that early stage they were tiny little samples but enough to make you dream and catch the atmosphere. I had mentioned to him that I loved his night vision film he did with Kate Moss for Agent Provacateur, I also love his sense of music and by now he knows me a bit as we’ve worked together on a few projects for ASVOFF so I just let him go with it. Of course I gave him the briefs of the fragrances but beyond that I really did not want to give him any boundaries just let him do what ever he felt with the scents.

 

 

Laura:

Are you going to make more products ?

Diane:

Yes, I am already working on a few more perfumes that we would like to launch in September…fingers crossed.