‘Freshly washed cotton sheets’ is most popular scent at this French fragrances store
MANILA, Philippines — Baby powder was the most popular scent over 10 years ago, according to studies.
Today, according to Google searches, vanilla is the world's most popular aroma.
But in the newly unveiled first Philippine store of Maison Margiela Fragrances in Greenbelt 5, the bestseller is Sunday Morning, which is “all about giving the sensation of freshly washed cotton sheets on a Sunday morning,” said the brand’s local Senior Brand Manager, Shirlyn Yu.
An entire wall in the 36-square-meter boutique, built in collaboration with Stores Specialists Inc., is dedicated to Sunday Morning. Upon entering the store, guests are welcomed by a “discovery” table, which showcases the brand’s Replica collection range of 15 to 16 products. More than just body perfumes, the brand positions itself as catering to an entire “fragrance lifestyle,” thereby also offering scented candles, home sprays, shower gels, body lotions, and hand creams available in different sizes, exclusively distributed by Rustan Marketing Corporation.
“We also have candles, diffusers, and bath and body and it's (the brand) is the only one which has a hair mist as well,” claimed Yu.
Apart from pushing for a “fragrance lifestyle,” what makes the brand unique, said Yu, is that its collections are inspired by “relatable universal” memories.
“It's all about sensations,” she affirmed, “It's all about evoking memories because normally when we pick fragrances, we either choose it to be like flora, but it is all about memories. So in a sense, it's universal because all of us have memories, but it's personal because each memory is all of us, right?."
“So that's why what's highlighted here (are) these scents where memories are made of. So that's why even the product names are like taking you to places for periods of time. Like when you try this, it will remind you of the experience of being in a flower market or perhaps an experience of after the weather," she expounded.
The current star of the discovery table is the label’s latest collection, From the Garden, which has a “very crisp tomato leaves accord” that “gives the memory of harvesting tomatoes in a sunny afternoon in the garden,” making it an ideal summer fragrance, said Yu.
From the Garden, the brand said in a statement, evokes the joyful feeling of reconnecting with nature. Exclusively crafted by master perfumer Olivier Cresp and his son Sebastien, the creation encapsulates a precious bond shared over the years, inspired by a crisp, sunny afternoon in a blooming garden in Puglia, Italy.
“From the Garden evokes a memory that I share with my son,” shared Olivier, “Like a family heritage. My father made me smell the garden plants, and I did the same with my son. These earthy and greenery notes remind me of those moments of transmission and complicity.”
Just as distinctive as the brand’s positioning and inspirations are the ingredients used for every scent. Looks can be deceiving as inside every minimally packaged product is a surprise material.
“There are a lot of new innovations especially now from the latest one which is From the Garden. It has tomato. So who would have thought that tomatoes can be inside a fragrance?” Yu pointed out.
From Eau De Toilettes (EDTs), the store will also soon roll out Eau De Parfums (EDPs), and right before Christmas, from white packaging, the brand would churn out blacks.
While Yu has no news yet if the French luxury fashion house from where the Fragrances brand came from is also coming to the Philippines, she announced that a Fragrances boutique will also open in Cebu and they are “targeting to be more aggressive by opening more stores” this year and the next.
