A Scent Like No Other
(PARIS) Chloé lit up the City of Lights Saturday night with a rock-star worthy bash that boasted a crowd as diversely enigmatic as its three new fragrance faces: Clémence Poésy, Anja Rubik, and Chloë Sevigny.
"It's very flattering," said Sevigny on being picked to represent Chloé Eau de Parfum, before adding, with a laugh, "I'm concerned that the customers might be confused, though; I have the umlaut in my name while they have the accent. I'm Chloë, not Chloé."
And while Rubik stars in the current Chloé ad campaign, Poésy had an altogether uncanny connection to being a fragrance face as well. "I play a girl named Chloé in my film In Bruges," she laughed.
Michele Scannavini, president of Coty Prestige, and Ralph Toledano, chief executive officer of Chloé, welcomed nearly 800 guests, including Lily Cole, Mary-Kate Olsen, Justin Giunta, Sidney and Katia Toledano, Ludivine Sagnier, Kirsten Dunst, Ellen von Unwerth, Joey Starr, and Julie Depardieu to the Hotel de la Monnaie on the Left Bank, redecorated for the occasion in the style of the new scent with dozens of votives, oversized perfume bottles, and dedicated rooms named after each of the fragrance faces, all lit up in different hues. The venue even boasted a private women's only salon where guests could experience the powdery rose notes.
Back in the main room, under massive moving black and white images taken by ad campaign photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin (and art directed by Ezra Petronio) that played on screen, Sevigny jokingly played the role of a shrinking violet. "It's slightly mortifying," she laughed to friend, deejay, and designer Ben Cho. "Who wants to see a 50-inch version of their face? But I just love that Anja; I just want to eat her up. She's Polish, my mom's Polish." Cho, meanwhile, was in town for sales appointments and said this was the first fashion event, save for the Purple magazine party he spun at, that he attended all week. "I didn't go to any shows, but I did go for the second time to Père Lachaise to see Oscar Wilde's grave," he said. "We were ducking behind tombstones like we were playing paintball!"
The three fragrance faces were shot individually for ads that will run separately in February 2008 books. Poésy, Sevigny, and Rubik were each selected to represent a different element of the Chloé woman: romantic; edgy; and sexy and sensual, respectively. "Romantic is nice, no?" said Poésy. "But I hope I'm free spirited too."
Chloé Eau de Parfum, created by Robertet's perfumers Michel Almairac and Amandine Marie, includes notes of rose, magnolia, lily of the valley, and cedarwood. Its bottle is by Patrick Veillet. Chloé devotees were part of focus groups to test the fragrance.
Chloé Eau de Parfum will, in the first year, bow in 8,000 doors worldwide, including Saks Fifth Avenue, an exclusive launch partner. The lineup will include a 30-ml. edp spray for $60, a 50-ml. edp spray for $80, a 75-ml. edp spray for $95, and complementary ancillaries. While Coty executives did not reveal projected sales figures, the scent is expected to bring in upwards of $30 million in wholesale revenues during its first year.
Following a performance by The Kills, who played a few sets in their first live concert in a year, guests partied into the wee hours of the morning to beats mixed by DJ Olympia, 24 Court, and Maud from Scratch Massive.
"It feels good," said Poésy. "A day of shooting and dancing. Why not?"
JIM SHI
