Flannie

The Intimate Scent of a Woman

Petite Mort, modestly labeled “a woman’s perfume,” is one of the most audacious fragrances in the history of modern perfumery. And what a scent it is… The scent of a woman’s intimate parts before lovemaking. This olfactory gamble is the work of Marc Atlan, creator and artistic director who has collaborated with Tom Ford, Comme des Garçons, and is currently working on projects with Haider Ackermann, Canada Goose, and Timothée Chalamet.

A limited edition of 100 bottles of this extraordinary fragrance was created for an exhibition at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York in 2011. Poised between repulsion and fascination, it explores the scent of another, the crotch of a stranger, superimposed on our own.

A look back at this conversation with Marc Atlan

Flannie: Petite Mort is a surprising fragrance. It’s like smelling lovemaking, an exchange of fluids mingled with sweat. Could a man’s scent have somehow crept in?

Marc Atlan: No, but the interpretation of a fragrance is very subjective. In the brief I gave to perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, I mentioned the idea of ​​ »wearing someone » instead of something. And what leads a woman to pleasure. You can’t force a woman’s desire. That’s the angle that interested me: subjective, elusive.

Flannie: How did you come up with this idea?

Marc Atlan: The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York (FIT) called me to propose creating an artistic piece around the fragrance. He proposed to several artists, including myself, that we work on the theme of « disaster. » Although I had worked with perfumers for twenty years, I hadn’t yet had the necessary structure to embark on creating a perfume. I thought it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.

Flannie: And you thought of “la petite mort” (an expression that refers to a brief loss or weakening of consciousness, and in modern usage refers specifically to a post-orgasm sensation as likened to death.)?

Marc Atlan: It all happened very quickly. I worked through semantic leaps. I let my mind wander, going from « disaster » to « death, » and then, since I’m French by birth, I very quickly thought of « petite mort, » this French expression that means « orgasm. »

Flannie: Did you ever wonder, even once, if this project was feasible?

Marc Atlan: It’s not in my nature to wonder if something will be possible or impossible. After the phone call from the FIT, I had a meeting with a friend, the perfume creator Kilian Hennessy. When I arrived, I told him about the project that had just been born in my mind, and he sat across from me and listened for twenty minutes. At the end, he said to me, « You’re really crazy, but I think I’m going to help you. » And he put me in touch with the perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour.

Photo by Rankin

Flannie: How long did it take to develop the perfume?

Marc Atlan: The FIT gave me a very short deadline. Everything was done in three months instead of the twelve to eighteen months it takes for traditional perfumes. I wanted to take the rules of this industry and turn them on their head, showing that it was possible to create a perfume in much less time.

Flannie: The release of your perfume triggered violent, very negative reactions, particularly on blogs.

Marc Atlan: I admit that there’s a huge element of surprise at first, certainly, but this perfume is rich and complex in its composition. You have to discover it hour by hour. I envisioned it as a work of art. That’s why I only produced 100 bottles. My goal wasn’t to sell. So I didn’t have to try to make it appealing in order to sell as many as possible. Twenty artists participated in the project, sharing their own vision of this little death, including Gotscho, Mona Kuhn, Max Vadukul, Rankin…

Flannie: Lady Gaga announced around the same time the launch of a perfume that smelled of semen and blood. Do you think this was a trend at the time?

Marc Atlan: Aside from the fact that Lady Gaga liked to take risks and shock people, it could have been a trend in the sense that people wash themselves so thoroughly that they get rid of all body odor. Perhaps wanting to smell human again in a sanitized society can become a trend, yes. That said, Petite Mort isn’t just about sex, but about desire, the kind that arises in a woman’s brain on the path to orgasm. I wasn’t trying to literally reproduce the scent of a woman’s intimacy. Petite Mort contains a synthetic molecule that’s similar to pheromones. The goal was to bottle a fleeting moment to preserve it and experience it whenever you want. I gave a bottle to the artist Andres Serrano, whose work with bodily fluids I follow. He told me the next day, « Your perfume is truly a work of art. »

Flannie: Absolutely. It’s striking.

Marc Atlan: Yes, I wanted it to be as pure as possible. That’s why it doesn’t contain a drop of alcohol—just solvents—because alcohol dilutes. My vision was for the perfume to last a long time. Like an obsession. Once you wear it, you think about it constantly. The first notes can feel like an assault. Most people stop at the top note, but that’s not what perfume is. There’s more to it.

Flannie: Is it the scent of a particular memory?

Marc Atlan: It’s a tribute and a gift to all women.