She smiled openly as she entered the room and changed it forever. She was not exactly smiling at me. Her smile was more like a light she had left shining. She seemed to have come fresh from a moment of joy: a run through a forest, a brief love or a fit of laughter that left a gleam in her eyes. Her hair was like a sleek wild animal she did not care to tame. It tumbled down around her face and bounced on her shoulders with each step, blending with her clothes, jewellery and skin. The effect was one of completeness. She seemed a hybrid of woman and material: serene, inimitable, and to me, in that moment, impossible to capture on film.
This is how it began, with her entering my house, and me, stock-still, faced with the enigma of a woman whom nothing seemed to faze, to hold back.
She was not one to ask for permission; she had that innate elegance that makes indecorum impossible. She chose a seat and moved across the studio towards it, accompanied rather than encumbered by a rustle of fabric, which settled all at once with a soft sound like lowering sails when she came to rest.
She sat, framed by the south-east window, her back to the daylight, waiting with the grace of habit, as though facing whatever came her way head-on was, in her eyes, the best way to move through the world. Her smile had altered on contact with her environment, the way a perfume changes upon contact with the air or with the body. From dazzling, it had become calm and curious.
I searched for something to say, but nothing could have been better than the silence that this woman inhabited so comfortably, with no effort or interference. I would not for the world have disturbed the atmosphere her simple presence had brought forth. Images filled my head. I could not have said if or why she was beautiful; the whole alchemy of her being transcended the question, rendered it void. I forgot about my cameras lying on the coffee table, about what we were here for: photographing her now seemed like some ridiculous notion we would soon laugh about together.
Perhaps she read my mind.
She abruptly confessed that portraits sometimes seemed o sell life short. A still image, she reasoned, loses its truth he instant it is taken, for we are always travelling: we are movement. She asked me, quoting a favourite painter from memory, how it could ever be possible to take the portrait of fire, of air, of colour. I noticed that her soft leather bag still hung over her forearm. There seemed to be some fraternal bond between her skin and that leather, with its ageless patina, so visibly smooth it appeared irresistible to touch.
I realised she carried her beauty the same way she carried that leather bag: with a carefree sense of oneness. I now knew for certain that I could not photograph this woman, that she would remain impervious to all attempts at capture. Because she brought life to the space, transformed it, swept me up in her wake. Because she was not a model. She was a phenomenon.
Maria Pourchet
THE FIRST CHYPRE
Christine Nagel, Creative Director of Hermes Perfumes, has designed a sensual composition for Hermes’very first chypre fragrance. She has worked tirelessly to construct, sculpt and hone a captivating scent combining the delicate butterfly lily with the surprising miracle berry. Its warm trail of oakwood and its intense patchouli seal the emotion it conveys. This timeless blend of olfactory counterpoints melts onto the skin, revealing its characterful signature and leaving an unforgettable memory.
A SENSUAL NAME
Barénia is a natural, heritage leather –an Hermes signature. Its fine, supple, and highly sensual texture yields softly to the skin on contact. Barenia leather caresses, accompanies movement, embraces energy and welcomes boldness. It is instinctively attracted to liberated and intrepid souls. It is a metaphor for the Hermes chypre, which the skin draws in and makes its own forever. It is the symbiosis of body and soul, the signature of an unstoppable woman.
THE ESSENCE OF THE COLLIER DE CHIEN
Inspired by real dog collars once produced by Hermes Sellier, the Collier de chien bracelet is an enduring house classic. A combination of leather and metal, an elegant object with irreverent overtones, this collar was quite literally unleashed and adopted by women in the Roaring Twenties to assert their independence. The essence of the Collier de chien –its lines, colours and materials – is frequently revisited. It inspires bags, accessories and objects. And, for the first time, a fragrance bottle.
A STIMULATING OBJECT
Designer Philippe Mouquet, a longstanding partner of the house, drew inspiration from the iconic Collier de chien bracelet to create a bottle of crystal-clear curves and precious metal. Its elliptical shape, overlaid with a metal plate bearing four contoured studs with domed facets, echoes the line of the bracelet. These heritage codes come together harmoniously to create a powerful piece symbolic of a lifelong signature fragrance.
A MAGNETIC LINE
The object is presented in a box with sophisticated graphics. A metallic ellipse echoing the bottle is interwoven with the Hermes H. In the centre, the name Barénia appears in bold, fiery-red lettering. The resulting balance of forces reveals the entire history of the fragrance in just a few simple lines.
The Barénia line also includes a perfumed body cream in an elegant glass jar, extending the trail of the new chypre to the body. The sensory experience is accompanied by a scented soap engraved with the initial H.
“The Hermès woman is driven by curiosity. Guided by her instincts, her sidesteps are never missteps.”
Christine Nagel
Creative Director of Hermes Perfumes
