With the closing weeks of the last decade the public were finally made aware of the official departure of Martin Margiela from his  eponymous label, a rumour that had gathered steam across 2009. With much questioning into his involvement in the past several clothing collections, it is with apt poetic license that Martin leaves us not with a parting sartorial statement, but rather the powerful lingering scent of ‘(untitled)’, the debut perfume from the house of Margiela.

Launching in a worldwide exclusive at Colette in Paris next week, (untitled) has been three years in the making, as the first addition to Margiela’s Line 3, dedicated to perfumes. Its ambiguous title sits in harmony with the brand’s philosophy of collective work, anonymity and free interpretation, allowing the scent to hold different meanings for different people.

“Everyone can feel called into question by a colour, a shape or a garment… We wanted to give perfume the same chance. Stripped of any reference to an influence of precise climate, (untitled) can be interpreted and worn for all occasion by every one of us.” - Maison Martin Margiela.

The scent is, as Martin wished, a ‘green flash’ – an olfactory equivalent and  translation of the blank canvas and cleansing visual signature ‘white’ of Margiela. It is at once, clean, fresh and astringent, eschewing the floral hallmarks of contemporary perfumes and harking back to 1970′s trends, such as Chanel’s Nº19.  Built on a base of galbanum and accented with notes of incense, bitter orange and box green, (untitled) develops with time, the base notes of the scent settling into a deeper, woody aroma of sweet jasmine and musky cedar.

The final chosen scent for (untitled) was selected by Martin himself, and went directly into production by L’Oreal (without market testing) after only three samples were created at Givaudan by Perfumer Daniela Andrier, who muses:

“I know that perfume must not follow a fashion or a trend, but an instinct. This first perfume expresses a femininity which does not fit into formal categories. I am grateful to Maison Martin Margiela for whispering the formula for this perfume into my ear.”

Top Notes:

Galbanum essence

Box green

Bitter orange blossom absolute

Middle Notes:

Lentiscus resinoid

Jasmine

Galbanum resinoid

Base notes:

Musk

Cedar

Incense resinoid

*                           *                          *

The stunning bottle that holds (untitled) is a collaborative effort between Martin Margiela and creative director Fabien Baron, harking back to medicinal and classical perfumery bottles of the 19th century. All in clear glass, the traditional shape has been dipped in matte white paint (another Margiela signature) and woven with cotton thread around the neck with a single thread holding the stopper. Olivetti typewriter font is used for the name written across the paint, and the stopper is engraved with Margiela’s numerical line codes, that signify the various sectors of clothing, shoes, jewellery accessories and now Line 3 as ‘Margiela’s olfactory universe’.

In a rich, innovative display of the wider Margiela universe, the official perfume launch of (untitled) offered select viewers an involved sensual experience in Paris this week.  Journalists and members of the press cavorted through a mirrored maze of Margiela inspirations, each offered one of Margiela’s White Objects goose feather quills to take their notes with. A series of ten videos gave special insight into the history and tradition of the label, and a grand unveiling (white confetti included) gave the perfume to the world, as shown above in tiered displays, watched over by staff in their Margiela labcoat uniforms. With an air of artistic exhibition yet with a core of pragmatic communication, the event epitomised the anti-commercial commercialism that is Margiela and is proof that through the collective spirit fostered from its outset, the departure of its namesake should do little to diminish its cache and credibility as a worldwide player in avantgarde fashion and lifestyle products.

“The development and creation of the first perfume from Maison Martin Margiela has been a marvellous experience. L’Oreal has given us all possible support in guiding us into this new world. Expressing our creativity and revealing our identity through such a special and unique essence is something we have wanted to do for a very long time. It fits in well with the consistent quality of our artistic universe, and is a natural counterpart to our collections, architectural projects, accessories and so on. We are extremely proud of the result, in all its aspects. We will waste no time in starting work on a new project, with a team of such talent and inspiration at our disposal.” – Maison Martin Margiela.

A BLOG thanks Carl Ganivet for his support with this piece.