Dries Van Noten Launches Perfumery and Beauty

Tomorrow, Dries Van Noten, the Belgian designer known for his mastery of color and pattern will launch a range of perfumes and lipsticks. The products will be available at his Antwerp, Paris, and Los Angeles boutiques, as well as his newly launched official website.

The ambitious launch consists of ten eaux de parfums, produced with ten different noses from major fragrance producers such as Givaudan and Firmenich. The scents are loosely based on the designer’s famous home garden that has become indispensable to his image and a never-ending source of inspiration. Therefore, expect plenty of florals, including two scents that lean heavily on roses, Van Noten’s favorite flower, but also scents like Cannabis Patchuli, which Van Noten, in the press video that accompanied the launch, admits as one of his favorites.

The bottles that contain the perfumes are made from contrasting materials with different treatments that reflect Van Noten’s penchant for clashing esthetic elements. Glass is mixed with wood or hand-painted porcelain or engraved metal.

The beauty collection is rounded out by four shades of lipstick in cases with clashing patterns.

At StyleZeitgeist we have always been fans of designers, especially auteurs, trying their hand at other disciplines, taking themselves out of their comfort zones, but also providing a chance for discovery, which often happens when a talented naif enters a new discipline, upending existing, hardened preconceptions. Needless to say, with someone as talented as Van Noten, we are here for it. Besides, who can say no to a perfume called Fleur du Mal? Not the Baudelairean us.

JARDIN DE L’ORANGERIE

A bright yellow glass with a fragile rose base.

“A beautiful duality of nature-inspired orange blossom with the contrast of sweet, heavy, milky, mature orange blossom; this flower can express so many different faces.” — Daniela Andrier

NEON GARDEN

A colour block featuring a neon green base with sky blue glass.

“There is a baffling harmony through the fusion of contradictory ideas.I wanted to express unconventional classicism through using orris, from iris root, which is so elegant and haute couture. But I wanted to shake it, to heckle it, with the energy of mint.” — Fanny Bal

ROSA CARNIVORA

A graceful association of powdery glass with monochrome “animalier” printed porcelain.

“This is nature: unfiltered, with all its little flaws. This rose is not romantic: it is strangely beautiful, real, imperfect and ambiguous.” — Daphné Bugey

RAVING ROSE

A bubble-gum pink bottle mixed with a vibrant red metallic base.

“The rose is an icon for Dries but I wanted to disrupt its classicism to create a rose that is not a rose, not taking itself too seriously, ultra-modern and spicy.” — Louise Turner

CANNABIS PATCHOULI

A unique crafted bottle made from certified PEFC® wood and forest green glass.

“Nothing is forbidden in Dries’ world, where antagonistic elements are combined to create surprise. This fragrance is like a light and dark olfactive pattern of fresh green leaves of clary sage rubbing against the woody leaves of patchouli.” — Nicolas Bonneville

SANTAL GREENERY

A delicate white opaque glass bottle with a green base, decorated with shadows of nature.

“The union of two opposites, yet perfectly and poetically balanced: resilient sandalwood with the lively, green leaf of fig – the everlasting and the ephemeral together.” — Nisrine Grillie

VOODOO CHILE

A midnight blue glass bottle with a metal base engraved with leaves.

“I was inspired by the iconic Jimi Hendrix track that came out of the energy of collective creativity. Rosemary and patchouli are the opposite forces in action here but the rosemary – like Hendrix’s guitar – is distorted to make it hot and dense.” — Nicolas Beaulieu

ROCK THE MYRRH

A crafted masterpiece made of French hand-painted porcelain combined with amber glass.

“Inspired by The Dries Van Noten Parisian boutique with its elegant and precious textures, the eclectic and mystical atmosphere that reigns inspired the idea of an adorned myrrh. It is here, an overdose of myrrh is joined by resins of benzoin and cistus dressed up with delights of cypress and pink pepper.” — Amélie Jacquin

FLEUR DU MAL

A tortoiseshell-inspired base holding a violet glass bottle.

“I wanted to create a perfume of contrast using osmanthus which has a duality and unexpected quality. It appears delicate and innocent but it can be very sensual, almost animalic; this flower, that seems to be an angel, can turn devilish.” — Quentin Bisch

SOIE MALAQUAIS

A seductive and unique porcelain piece inspired by Delft blue combined with a dark burgundy glass.

“I fell in love with Dries’ silk dresses in his Quai Malaquais boutique. The texture was so fluid it seemed to merge with the skin, which gave me the idea for a silky, enveloping perfume. It’s a balmy gourmand mix of chestnut with sensual, silky vanilla.” — Marie Salamagne