From Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvador Dali to Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusama, artistic collaborations have long been considered table stakes when it comes to building a brand. Increasingly the jewellery world is taking note, but via a different path: fragrance. While jewellers and perfume houses may seem like unlikely bedfellows, on closer look, it makes sense. The latest exciting meetings of these two worlds? The collaboration between Aesop, the fragrance and skincare brand beloved by the art and design crowd for its unconventional scent profiles, and Patcharavipa Bodiratnangkura, the if-you-know-you-know jewellery designer who lives in London, Paris and Bangkok and creates customised vintage watches for the likes of Rihanna. The result is a limited-edition rhodium-plated 925 sterling silver ear cuff, its organic leaf shapes encircling the ear as if caught mid-unfurling. It is undeniably beautiful, and bold; there is nothing remotely shrinking violet about the piece – just like Aurner, the new Aesop fragrance it has been launched in conjunction with.
Although it’s the brand’s first foray into jewellery, the move was a natural one, says Garance Delaye, Aesop’s brand president. “Our relationship with the arts has been integral to the development of Aesop; it has fuelled us for over 37 years,” she says. “We draw constant inspiration from the arts and continue to cultivate cultural partnerships as an avenue through which to learn and engage with our customers; this is part of our DNA.”
For Bodiratnangkura, the project could not be more aligned with her ethos and creative stand-point as a jewellery designer. “I have always looked to artists over many years,” she says, citing the likes of Jean Dubuffet as inspiration. Seeing as the name of the fragrance is an Old Nose verb meaning “to be adorned, or to be embellished with flowers”, a jewellery interpretation was inevitable, with the designer and Aesop both sharing a “non-conformist” approach to their work.
Tension, says Celine Barel, the much-lauded perfumer behind Aurner, is embodied in both the cuff and the new scent, which she describes as “a floral expression of a defiant bloom”. And like all Aesop fragrances, “it defies genders yet at the same time portrays tensions between strength and softness”. The brief to create the current scent was “very rich, very poetic and very delicate; [the Aesop team] prepared a beautiful collage book with multiple points of inspiration including poetry from Li Qingzhao, dried herbs, music, and literary references which inspired me to create a floral fragrance that is very pure, soothing and calming, but also bold and powerful”. Bodiratnangkura took her initial inspiration from the magnolia leaf – one of the key ingredients within the scent -– and then toyed with the idea of “translating it into an abstract form to be worn, just as fragrance is worn. I wanted to reimagine the tip of the flower, wrapping around the ear without being too literal”. There were challenges, however: mainly the lack of any magnolia inland when she was making samples at her Bangkok studio. And so she turned to photography, explaining how she “looked at a lot of Irving Penn’s work and how he captured the folds and silhouettes of the flowers”. She normally works in 18K gold, but creating with silver proved “interesting; we got the textured, tactile raw finish and it’s softer, more pliable”. A necklace was also made specifically for the campaign.
This new launch joins the halls of fame celebrating the long line of creative dalliances between jewellery and fragrance houses. In 2012, Tom Binns for Lisa Hoffman’s collection of jewellery included necklaces, cuffs and pendants with beads infused with fragrance; Loree Rodkin’s 2016 collaboration with niche fragrance brand Killian included a scented ceramic shield; and the likes of Veronique Gabai, NCP Concepts and more recently Victoria Beckham – via her fragrance line – have designed necklaces containing mini fragrance bottles that have become a coveted object of desire amongst the fashion forward. As part of an ongoing artistic project, Molton Brown commissioned jeweller Gala Colivet Dennison to create a brooch inspired by its Rose Dunes scent (it’s currently on view at the brand’s Regent Street store window).
The collaborative fragrance project Incorp (which also offers perfume pendants) enlisted jeweller Marco Panconesi to create a gua sha-esque tool to decant its perfume oils. Jeweller Bibi van der Velden worked with Lyn Harris last year and Murano glass artist Aristide Najean to create a sculpture for a scented candle, and a smoky fragrance inspired by family life in Portugal and twilight beach bonfires. To celebrate the brand’s 25th anniversary this year, she’s planning to launch the fragrance in its own right. Meanwhile, in celebration of its first fragrance Retrospect, cult beauty brand Merit teamed up with Completedworks to create two limited-edition earrings, inspired by the bottle shape.
While it’s arguably niche jewellers and fragrance houses that are currently the driving force around this trend, in the past, establishment brands have also made a play for the game. Guerlain has partnered with both Philippe Ferrandis and Chaumet, while Estee Lauder and Chloé Parfums have long been partial to a solid fragrance pendant. Back in 2021, Chanel launched its No 5 High Jewellery collection to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the iconic No 5 perfume, with many pieces featuring pavé diamonds designed to echo the seal of the perfume bottle.
For those who remain unconvinced by the romance between jewellery and fragrance, those leading the charge are unfazed. Merit’s CMO, Aila Morin, believes the dalliance is a no-brainer as “both are everyday luxuries that are timeless, treasured accessories”. Paris-based couturier and jeweller Marc-Antoine Barrois, who created his most recent fragrance Tilia in partnership with leading nose Quentin Bisch, agrees saying: “I always considered my jewels as pieces to live with, the same way one lives with my perfume on the skin.” For Patcharavipa, the decision to work with Aesop was pretty simple: “We are both fearless and unconventional in how we craft and design product, so this was a wonderful collision of worlds.” And though her stunning jewellery is often described as art, fundamentally she believes that “jewellery should be worn – just like fragrances”.
