Paco Rabanne

www.pacorabanne.com

1968. New ideas and creative designers are popping up all over Europe.

In Paris, at the heart of May’s student-led uprising, Antonio, Mariano, Jose Maria and Enrique Puig meet Paco Rabanne, an avant-garde young stylist. Sold on his talent, they decide to invest in his vision, and incorporate his design house into the family business. At the same time, Puig opens offices in Paris.

From his first fragrance, Calandre, in 1969, to 1 MILLION in 2008, Paco Rabanne has enjoyed numerous hits, putting his bold style at the service of fragrances that are always creatively bewitching.

Innovation, sensuality, audacity and architecture are Paco Rabanne’s core values. Those qualities also apply to the surprising fragrances dreamt up by the designer to inflame desire.

Fragrance

Fragrance is an essential element in its own right in Paco Rabanne’s world. For the designer, fragrance, like fashion, is a way of transcribing images, impressions, desires. Thanks to the bottles, it is also a way to express his talent for working with solid materials.

In an interview, he explains how involved he is in the process of creating a fragrance.

What made you want to create fragrances?
We need the world of scents: isn’t it said that a newborn identifies his mother by her odour? It’s also a counterpoint in the world of creation. Calandra, my first juice, was produced in 1969: not only did it add a new touch, but it was also the perfect way of making my creativity accessible to as many people as possible.

How do you go about creating your fragrances?
Let’s be clear: creating fragrances is not my profession. I would never say that I’m the one who makes the perfumes. I inspire them, I give them specific images, sensations, colours, scents and energy, and then I leave the care of translating them into olfactory sensations up to the nose. It’s tremendous team work with professionals. I love it! I especially appreciate their willingness to listen: they integrate all my abstract ideas magnificently.

Your bottles reflect your obsession with new materials. Do you contribute a lot to their design?
Oh, yes, that’s my area! I want the bottle to be heavy, I want the sensation of holding it your hand to make it concrete. Lightness symbolizes junk: we cannot allow ourselves to make junk when we’re producing fragrances of this quality. Designing fragrances has enabled me to experiment with new uses for my fetish materials. I’m thinking especially of Ultraviolet’s glass, metal and silicone bottle. Its sensual curves, how it fits in your hand and flexible application are all novel features.

What are your sources of inspiration for finding names?
Numerology was a strong influence in the creation of my fragrances. Calandre, for example, is the number 7 in Pythagorean numerology: it’s perfection. It comes from “cal” which means God, and “Andros”, which means “man” in Greek. Here, the exact meaning of Calandre is “the woman who wanted to be God’s equal.” It’s a little subtler than the French term of radiator grille, don’t you think?