Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty
Carine Roitfeld has conquered every aspect of the fashion industry. Up next? She’s setting her sights on a beauty world takeover.
Roitfeld was the editor ofVogue Parisfor 10 years, before launching her own highly-successful biannual style magazines,CR Fashion BookandCR Men’s Bookin 2012 and 2015. Plus, she starred in her own fashion documentaryMademoiselle C,and was just named the style advisor ofKarl Lagerfeld’s namesake brandfollowinghis death in February.
Courtesy Carine Roitfeld Parfums
“I decided when I leftVogueto do something new and I never did perfume. It’s different than fashion because fashion changes every six, three months, and perfume, it can last much longer,” Roitfeld told PEOPLE during a preview event in New York City. “For me, as a fashion stylist, perfume is the last accessory because when I’m leaving the last final touch is a little bit of perfume.”
“It’s a quite strong perfume and I like the idea that people know when I arrive into a room or left — you can smell that she’s not far. And I like the idea that people follow you because of your perfume.”
But unlike the fast-paced world of magazine editing, she slowed down the creative process for her latest project and took over eight years to develop all seven scents. She teamed up with master perfumers, Aurélien Guichard, Pascal Gaurin and Yann Vasnier, who all have vast experience creating top-selling luxury perfumes for Armani Privé, Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs, respectively. And on the business end, she worked closely with her son, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, to launch the line. Vladimir is the President of CR Fashion Book Ltd., and CR Studio, which is a full service creative and production agency that works with Dior, Chanel, Yeezy and more.
Sebastian Faena
To portray her home away from home, New York City, she named the scent Orson, after Orson Wells, which has scents of hawthorn flower with the nomadic and rugged refinement of tonka beans and benzoin “tears.”
George, aptly named for her “lover” in London, has a punk rock (à la Sex Pistols) feel to the scent which features violet leaf, cannabis and oakmoss.
Lawrence of Arabia inspired Roitfeld for the Dubai scent, where she mixed a leather scent, encompassing jasmine, oud wood and tolu tree for the most sensual of her eight perfumes.
Next, she honored her love of Buenos Aires and dance with the scent, Sebastian, that has a mix of spicy woody notes, ower, tuberose and sandalwood, and is named after friend (and photographer of the campaign) Sebastian Fena.
Vladimir holds a close personal connection to Roitfeld because it was named after her son and represents her Russian heritage and memories of her grandmother. To pay homage her family roots, she combined olibanum’s smokiness with amber and orris.
Forever a fashion editor, she had total creative control in the editorial campaign, and modeled herself in each photo. Each image portrays two lovers from the waist down, and since the line is unisex, it also features two women and two men within the editorial campaign.
“It’s really my biggest dream and I never saw myself as a brand, I was working with other brands, making them good, but I didn’t see myself as a brand,” Roitfeld revealed. “Vladimir made me understand that and it’s because of him we created Carine Roitfeld Parfums. I’m a gifted mom to have Vladimir working with me because it’s not easy to work with your family but I’m very lucky to have someone I can totally trust. At his age he has a lot of energy to create things and push me. Maybe with not him the perfume would be just for myself and I wouldn’t be doing so many things, maybe I’d be quiet at a spa somewhere.”
Fabio Ionà/Corbis via Getty
So what does Vladimir see next for the brand? He’s not ruling anything out.
“This is another extension of the brand — I think it’s the brand itself because it’s the product that will hold Carine’s name — but I see it as another extension of our CR family, so we start with the perfume, we keep on doing everything else, and we see where the perfume will go,” said Vladimir.
Roitfeld runs in a fabulous circle of fashion friends, but says none of them have tested the perfume themselves yet. “I didn’t show them but they smell me, but I’ve been wearing them for eight years. A lot come to me and ask ‘Oh I love your perfume what is that?’ So I just have the feedback of people who smelled me. I’m a walking billboard.”
Each bottle retails for $285, travel sets of all seven scents checks in at $250 and and spray bottles run at $77. The perfumes launch on May 6 onNet-a-Porter.comandcarineroitfeld.com.
source: people.com
