April 10, 2024 |
Can a fragrance define an era? Coty, the 120-year-old French brand that invented modern perfumery, is looking to mark the 2020s with the launch of Infiniment Coty Paris, a 14-strong collection of genderless, luxury fragrances that thrill with personality, individuality and high-tech artistry. The brainchild of Coty’s visionary CEO, Sue Nabi, and her creative partner Nicolas Vu, the pair tell 10 the story of this historic launch. To celebrate, we invited five creatives from different artistic genres – an artist, a poet, a fashion designer, an AI artist and a sound design collective – to interpret their chosen Infiniment Coty Paris fragrance in a special portfolio.
In 1904, Coty transformed the art of perfumery through its revolutionary approach to raw materials, innovating with a ground-breaking blend of natural and synthetic ingredients. Now, 120 years later, Sue Nabi is about to introduce a new chapter, with the launch of Infiniment Coty Paris, which she says, “bridges the past and the future”. This is no ordinary fragrance launch. Nabi and her creative partner Nicolas Vu, who created the new fragrance collection together, are two of the most pioneering figures in the modern beauty business – a trait they share with Coty’s founder.
The details around fragrance entrepreneur François Coty’s big break are different depending who you ask. There is a general consensus, however, that the events which transpired at Paris’s Grands Magasins du Louvre department store in 1907, three years after Coty started his namesake business, went something like this: a seasoned salesman fresh from a truncated perfumery education on the French Riviera, Coty, whose early scent creations had been systematically rejected by the established boutiques of the day, was once again being shown the door. In his pocket was a small sample of La Rose Jacqueminot, a blend of flowers, honeyed spices, and a sillage-extending synthetic rose note brimming with potential. Frustrated, he smashed the bottle on the floor, or the counter (one of many hazy details). As the shattered flacon released its intoxicating aroma, a crowd swarmed (calmly approached?) Coty, demanding (politely asking?) where they could purchase the fragrance. The final detail of the story? La Rose Jacqueminot subsequently became a wild success, effectively launching the French house that would become a global beauty power player.
clockwise from top left: the five fragrances that make Infiniment Coty Paris’s ‘I Am Day collection’: Entre Genres, Soleil D’Ikosim, Noir Encens, Encore Une Fois and Aristo Chypre
Of the novel concept of using both natural and synthetic ingredients in fragrance blends, Nabi says, “Coty invented modern perfumery by cornering the market on synthetics that increase performance.” This distinction interested Nabi, a 20-year L’Oréal veteran who ran both Lancôme and L’Oréal Paris before striking out on her own in 2015 with business partner, Nicolas Vu, to launch the biotech-backed skincare brand Orveda. Nabi, who has a keen eye for industry shifts, notice dan interesting evolution happening in the fragrance category. Not unlike when Coty was trying to break into the market, a small number of big corporations had long controlled perfume sales, turning the specialised industry into what Nabi describes as a factory line. “They were making fragrance after fragrance, putting most of their money into advertising and not into the juices themselves.” But with the arrival of smaller, niche fragrance brands over the last decade, which prioritise higher concentrations of precious ingredients – much to the joy of followers of #perfumetok, TikTok’s perfume tag, which has billions of views – the audience expects a new level of quality and staying power.With disruption in its DNA, Coty’s new boss smelled an opportunity.
“It’s an alignment of stars,” the 56-year-old Algerian-born executive says of the fortuitous events surrounding the arrival of Infiniment Coty Paris, the brand’s new luxury fragrance pillar. When Nabi left L’Oréal in 2013, she aspired to build a new perfume concept with Vu that relied on high concentrations, noble ingredients, no budget constraints and no marketing briefs in order to make scents that were driven by quality, performance and science. When they arrived at Coty, the R&D team had been working on a new technology called Molecular Aura, a fermented sugar molecule that allows notes to diffuse with more strength and longevity. “It slows down the evaporation profile of selected ingredients by gently bonding with them to extend these scent signatures throughout the day,” says Severine Dallet, the senior manager of fragrance design. Not only does this push the olfactory boundaries of the olfactive experience, she says it “reshapes the rules of creation” by rendering the traditional olfactive pyramid totally obsolete – top notes, like citrus, are small and light and evaporate quickly; heart notes such as heavy florals are bigger molecules that evaporate more slowly; and base notes, even heavier molecules, such as woods and musks, evaporate even slower. As a result, the depth of Infiniment Coty Paris standouts, such as Entre Genres, an enveloping trio of musks spiked with hints of mandarin, has been extended by up to 30 hours.
from left: Coty’s CEO, Sue Nabi, and her creative partner Nicolas Vu, creators of Infiniment Coty Paris. Photography courtesy of INFINIMENT COTY PARIS
With their quality, performance and science boxes ticked, Nabi and Vu set out to tap into some of the other big ideas consuming fragrance obsessives. One is sustainability, as the perfumes mark the debut of anew upcycled alcohol that uses captured carbon dioxide from factory pollution instead of the ethanol more commonly found in fine fragrances to fill each of its keepsake glass bottles, which arrive in a protective case made of plant fibres. Secondly, there’s transparency. In addition to the upcycled alcohol, each scent contains only purified water and concentrated fragrance oil, with the molecular aura creating maximum impact with minimal ingredients. Finally, there’s wellness. Mining the mind-scent connection, they worked with neuroscientific modalities to map the brain’s responses to the main families of human emotion – sensuality, pleasure, tenderness, self-love and others – and used these findings to ensure that each scent triggers one of those emotional centres.
The bottle was a passion project for Vu, who designed each flacon to be infinitely refillable and easily stacked together to make what he describes as a canvas of glass. “The idea was to create a virtuous cycle,” Vu says. It’s an ambitious idea in which Vu and Nabien vision customers bringing their empty bottles back to shop counters, after which they will be given to local artists to be transformed into works of art that will be auctioned off. To introduce this concept, the brand partnered with the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair inLondon last autumn, where seven artists were tasked with creating unique works using the bottles. Founded by Moroccan entrepreneur Touria El Glaoui, 1-54 –an homage to the 54 countries comprising the African continent – emerged from a lack of representation on the global stage to foster artists from Africa and its diaspora. “It’s a testament to the power of creativity to breathe new life into everyday objects and make a statement about the potential for beauty and artistry in the most unexpected places,” El Glaoui says of the ongoing collaboration with Infiniment Coty Paris.
While walking through the 1-54 galleries at Somerset House in London last October, one piece stood out.Kenyan fine art photographer Thandiwe Muriu had used her practice, which leverages geometric prints, to transform Infiniment Coty Paris’s bottles. She had filled them with blue ash and burnt poems as a visual interpretation of Noir Encens, a peppery incense eau that also happens to be my favourite of Infiniment Coty Paris’s 14 offerings. It is yet another testament to the power of creativity – the kind that can come full circle and breathe new life into a century-spanning idea.
Text CELIA ELLENBERG
After smelling Aristo Chypre, Infinite Vibes created an artwork and animation that entices the senses and lingers in the imagination, an image that expresses an impossible to ignore sensuality
INFINIMENT COTY PARIS: MEET THE CREATIVES
INFINITE VIBES, AI artist
AI has become the frenzied buzzword on everyone’s lips, with technophiles wondering what it means for traditional ways of working. One of the explorers searching for the answer is Berlin-based animator Dom Harwood, who goes by the alter-ego Infinite Vibes, positioning his work at the intersection of technology and music. Harwood uses AI to augment his audio-inspired animations that, if you stare at them too long, put you in a dizzying dreamland. Infinite Vibes is a next-gen gem making this rapidly developing space accessible for all to enjoy, letting observers sit back, relax and enjoy a front-row seat to the future.
ARISTO CHYPRE: rich chypre, rose
What was your intention with the image animation for Aristo Chypre?
Infinite Vibes: It’s about capturing a feeling. I like the idea that you put something out there and it’s up to people to feel how they want.
How can you use technology to evoke emotion?
IV: I think you can use anything to do that. We livein a technological world, so you can address that by making art.
How do technology and art co-exist?
IV: Technology probably existed before humans did. I don’t see them as something separate. You think of the first cave paintings, they’re using a form of very basic technology – there’s an unbroken link.
What stimulates your creativity?
IV: Nothing in particular and yet everything. We are all just making our way through, somewhat in the darkness.
What leaves you wanting more?
IV: I tend to enjoy novelty more than I enjoy things continuing. I get a bit pained from monotony. I’m happy things don’t last forever.
What qualities do you find most attractive?
IV: That’s easy. Kindness, thoughtfulness, intelligence and good humour.
What tradition would you start?
IV: I love the idea of everybody in the world stopping and singing a song or a note.
What’s your favourite way to spend a day?
IV: A nice day with friends in nature, I don’t think it gets any better.
What smell triggers you the most?
IV: I find all smells trigger imagination in good and bad ways. I wake up every morning thinking about coffee.
Who and what has made an unforgettable impression on you?
IV: I went to see Poor Things. I thought every aspect was stunning. Amazing acting, sound design, music – it left a huge impression.
What creative field other than digital art do you find the most relatable?
IV: I’ve spent most of my life as a musician. Also, my mother was a huge cinephile, so I grew up seeing films every night through my childhood.
Why do you call yourself Infinite Vibes?
IV: I don’t like to reveal exactly why because I think there’s more fun leaving people to work things out. But it comes from my view of metaphysics, what I think of the bigger questions.
After smelling Encore Une Fois, Harri through the medium of dance curated a series of images that express the feeling of wanting more, driven by overwhelming desire
HARRI, fashion designer
London-based designer Harri, 29, may blow up his garments to craft their unconventional, bulbous shape but nobody can claim he’s stuck in a creative bubble. Known primarily for crafting latex trousers that taper at the ankle before ballooning into buoyant, air-filled inflations, the Indian-born designer honed his craft at London College of Fashion. He was handpicked as a BFC NewGen recipient, which allowed him to secure his first slot at 2023’s London Fashion Week. He proved himself an upcoming talent to watch, utilising graceful choreography to show off expressive, independent movement. Harri’s contoured creations are a wonder to behold.
ENCORE UNE FOIS: addictive amber, vanilla
What was your first reaction to Encore Une Fois?
Harri: It’s very soft, smooth and easy. It reminds me a lot of my time spent travelling.
What was your intention with the shoot?
H: The best part was that usually we work with body shapes and forms. Working with Encore Une Fois, it was about [responding] to scent. It was a new way of seeing, feeling and imagining things, a new challenge.
What feels nice on your skin?
H: Skin feels nice on my skin, always.
What leaves you wanting more?
H: A day in a good gallery, sculptures and ceramics.
What can’t you get enough of?
H: A good sculpture by Henry Moore is something I can’t get enough of. Also, a good day at work, maybe.
What tradition would you start?
H: At work, I’ve begun burning two incenses because that’s something I always saw growing up.
Harri’s creative response to Encore Une Fois by Infiniment Coty Paris
What’s your favourite way to spend the day?
H: Always in the studio with my team.
Does fragrance trigger your imagination?
H: A lot of memories I have are of places I associate with smells and fragrance. I grew up in a remote village in India, where my family had a small storage area full of petroleum products. I spent [half] my time at home and half in temple with my mum. There were two contrasting smells in my life, one very industrial – a petroleum smell – and then the smell of cut flowers, sand and sandalwood.
What do you find hard to resist?
H: Combining art and fashion.
How do you create desire through design?
H: I do it from my desire to create something that people have never seen before.
If you weren’t a fashion designer, what would you be?
H: I was an athlete before I was a fashion designer,I liked the determination and dedication. I liked the dynamics of dedicating yourself to a craft and spending a lot of time perfecting it.
After smelling Noir Encens, Hale Zero created a soundtrack about reinvention and rebirth, music that makes you feel rejuvenated and renewed with an unstoppable new energy. From left: brothers, Rafael, Greg and Carl Haley
HALE ZERO, DJs and sound designers
Comprised of Brixton-born brothers Carl, Greg and Rafael Haley, Hale Zero mix up a cocktail of Afrobeats, ’00s classics and ’90s hip-hop to create a fruity tipple essential for lowering inhibitions and filling a dancefloor. Stationed behind the decks for the afterparties of numerous fashion week shows, the Baftas and Edward Enninful’s birthday means word has quickly spread about their talents, which extend beyond DJing and into musical direction, composition, sound design and runway music. In other words, if Hale Zero didn’t do the soundtrack, was it even worth turning up? Unlikely.
NOIR ENCENS: avant-garde woody, incense, black pepper
What was your response to Noir Encens?
Carl: It reminded me of my childhood.It takes me back to something my mum had at her dressing table.
Rafael: Strong. SomethingI would put on if I was going shopping, to the club or on a date.
What were your intentions with the soundtrack?
Carl: We want to take people on a journey and feel a host of emotions. Usually, we start off calm and chilled and then build a euphoric moment.
What’s the significance of the songs? How do they reflect reinvention, rebirth and rejuvenation?
Carl: I picked Bibo No Aozora, a track by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto from a film called Babel. It was when we started to look at becoming film composers and that track was a standout for our journey.
Greg: The song I picked was Intimidated by Kaytranada. It gave a very rejuvenated feel.
Rafael: Grown Woman by Xavier Omär. There’s an energy to it that goes hand in hand with reinvention.
As brothers how do you uplift each other?
Greg: We communicate a lot; we talk about the things that are in our minds, we don’t hold anything back. That helps us stay connected, stay positive and encourage each other to keep going daily.
What smell takes you back to your childhood?
Greg: Curry and roti, a traditional meal in Guyana. It reminds me of growing up and being at home.
What’s the best crowd you guys have played to?
Rafael: The Self-Portrait party at London Fashion Week in September.The energy was crazy all night. Shakira popped down and we played one of her songs, that was a moment.
If you had to play one song for infinity what is it?
Carl: Time by Hans Zimmer [from the score of Inception].That’s the only time I’ve been in the cinema and not even seeing what was on the screen because the music had taken over.
Greg: Another Zimmer piece [also from Inception] called Dream is Collapsing. That chord progression I can listen to over and over.
Rafael: I would play the theme tune from The Shawshank Redemption by Thomas Newman.
If you guys could be reborn as anyone or anything what would it be?
Carl: Virgil Abloh.
Greg: Abloh was a creative polymath, someone I feel had the freedom to do anything he wanted to do.
Rafael: He encapsulates everything we want to do.
Listen to the playlist here: Ryuichi Sakamoto Bibo No Aozora, RY X Berlin, Jake Isaac and Nick Brewer Thinkin’ Bout You, Biig Piig Oh No, Bera Sans Retour, Khruangbin August 10, BJ The Chicago Kid Turnin’ Me Up, Xavier Omar Grown Woman, Sylo Ginny, Juls, A2, Karun and Xenia Manasseh Say You Love Me, Lucky Daye Try Your Fire, Disclosure and AI Green Feel Like I Do, PAME and Floyd Fuji Fresh Water, Duckwrth No Chill, Magic Flowers Try, Conor Albert and Marie Dahlstrom Undecided (with Marie Dahlstorm), Kaytranada and Kali Uchis 10%, OverDoz Last Kiss, Anderson .Paak Jet Black (feat. Brandy), Kaytranada Intimidated (feat. H.E.R.)
After smelling Entre Genres, on the following spread Mous Lamrabat has chosen an image from his archive that expresses lightness, freedom and untouchable beauty
MOUS LAMRABAT, artist
Morocco-born, Belgium-raised photographer Mous Lamrabat, 40, looks through a personal lens to explore the rich experience of diasporic communities. Hitting his heartwarming message home with a dash of well-spiced humour, he explores identity and diversity with a spotlight assigned to the beauty of cross-cultural interconnectedness. Think of the West’s most recognisable brands and Lamrabat has likely used them to flip the script as a comment on globalisation. Not even Spongebob is safe from his witty perspectives. Boasting a roster of clients like Burberry and Chanel, Lamrabat’s surrealist style nods to a utopia free from prejudice and judgment and celebrates culture and community.
ENTRE GENRES: a trio of musks, tangerine
What was your intention with the images?
Mous Lamrabat: I remember Entre Genres smelt very fresh. I wanted to incorporate that in the work and make the images also quite refreshing.
What gets your imagination soaring?
ML: Travelling, because your senses are opened, you see everything through a fresh pair of glasses. That’s why I love to travel, to see the things that are new for me.
Where is your creative happy place?
ML: I’m most productive right before I go to sleep, that’s the moment when you’re shut off from the world. It’s when ideas come quite easily to me.
If you were going to spend a day cloud-watching where would you do it?
ML: Namibia. It’s the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I’ve always said that when God created Earth, he created that place for himself. The clouds there reminded me of the ones in the opening of The Simpsons.
Which creative field other than photography do you most relate to?
ML: Anything that has to do with being creative. The wiring in your head and the way you wire things are what makes you a creative person.
What’s your favourite tradition?
ML: There are so many traditions and I can only start looking within our own. At the top of my mind is a kiss on the forehead to the elderly as a sign of respect. There are no words used but it says so much.
from left: Mous Lamrabat’s creative response to Entre Genres by Infiniment Coty Paris; Mous Lamrabat creates a piece where the stackable Infiniment Coty Paris bottles become a work of art.
What tradition would you start?
ML: It has to be something with kindness. The world we live in now, if you’re sensitive to what’s going on, you don’t understand how things like this can happen. I would find a way of creating a tradition where you can’t kill one another.
What’s your favourite way to spend the day?
ML: One of my happy places is where I was born. We used to go every year. I have eight siblings, so with my parents, that’s 11 of us. When we used to go in summer, there was no electricity or running water, but I have the best memories. I’d wake up and there would be fresh bread, the sun would be shining, there were chickens and roosters. I know I can’t afford to live like that all year round, but it is a great way to spend your days.
What smells trigger your emotions and imagination?
ML: There is this nostalgic thing about Morocco. It has a different smell, the air feels different. There are somany smells and just landing there, getting in the car and opening the window is always for me the start.
How do you eat your tangerines?
ML: The small ones, I peel them in one piece. It has to stay in one piece: from the moment it breaks or tears I feel like I’ve failed. I’m quite neurotic about it, and then I split them in two. I don’t eat them one by one, I eat them two by two and I don’t take them out. I just bite them off.
After smelling Soleil D’Ikosim, John Glacier wrote ‘Dazzling Seas’, a poem that expresses radiance, the feeling of being bathed in warmth and life-giving light
JOHN GLACIER, poet and musician
Poet and rapper John Glacier knows how to mastermind a beautiful verse. The Hackney-born artist used poetry to express her emotions before developing beat-backed, conversational music that forces you to sit down and listen. Drawing on reggae, pop, rap and grime, Glacier taught herself GarageBand and Logic before uploading songs onto SoundCloud. Dropping debut mixtape Shiloh: Lost for Words in 2021, she used tracks to dissect her personal experiences, including living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Since then, the multi-hyphenate has been skating the circuit of stardom, collaborating with Frank Ocean’s producer Vegyn and appearing on line-ups for We Out Here and Warehouse Project.
SOLEIL D’IKOSIM: orange blossom, neroli, vetiver
What was your first reaction to Soleil D’Ikosim? Where did it take you?
John Glacier: I was inspired enough to write a poem on it! It’s a complex fragrance that brought a lot of hope.
What is your creative happy place?
JG: I feel creative anywhere. I take a lot of inspiration from the world around me and it can come at any time.
What’s your favourite tradition?
JG: Me and my family did a lot of dancing at Christmas. I love that!
What’s smells trigger your imagination the most?
JG: Something delicate – I love a fragrance that is subtle enough for my imagination to interpret.
What’s your favourite flower?
JG: I love the bird of paradise flower – the colours and shape are so unique.
What smells take you back to childhood?
JG: Freshly cut grass! It’s such an ever-present smell so it connects itself to lots of memories of my childhood.
What are your hopes for the future?
JG: I just want whatever is right for me. I can’t predict the future, but I hope it works out well.
How do you convey optimism in your work?
JG: I have my own way of reflecting emotions, so I think reflecting optimism is that way too. I think about how these things make me feel and that tends to come out in its own unique way.
What brings radiance into your life?
JG: My friends are my main source of radiance. I have so many inspirational people around me who make me happy and that’s such an important thing to me.
Dazzling Seas by John Glacier
From bloom to fall
You never fail
Your scent
Assumes me all
Resume with spring
Your grace within
For seasons yet to come
My orange blossom love
A unity of one
Like dazzling seas
And summer breeze
And blossoms under trees
You radiate
The rays
How glorious the days
This optimism sours
My orange blossom reap
Text BELLA KOOPMAN
Purchase Infiniment Coty Paris fragrances at Liberty here. Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 72 – DARE TO DREAM – out now! Order your copy here.
INFINIMENT COTY PARIS: SOMETHING IN THE AIR
Portraits JOSHUA TARN
Artworks INFINITE VIBES
Text CELIA ELLENBERG and BELLA KOOPMAN
Sittings Editor GARTH ALLDAY SPENCER
DoP SIMON BIU
Fashion assistants SONYA MAZURYK, GEORGIA EDWARDS, JEROME KATENDE KASUSULA, PINNY YAOWARATANA and BELLA MAGEE
Production ZAC APOSTOLOU
Dancers for Harri DELILAH GROCOTT CAIN and SEIRIAN GRIFFITHS
Grooming for Harri SKY CRIPPS-JACKSON at The Wall Group using Sam McKnight and The Ordinary
Grooming for Hale Zero SKY-CRIPPS-JACKSON at The Wall Group using Sam McKnight and The Ordinary
Photography for Mous Lamrabat MOUS LAMRABAT
Fashion Editor for Mous Lamrabat LISA LAPAUW
Models for Mous Lamrabat NYIBOL DOK JOK and SITA
Make-up for Mous Lamrabat KARIMA MARUIAN
Photographer’s Assistant for Mous Lamrabat THOMAS CLODINE-FLORENT
Production for Mous Lamrabat MARIE JUNCKER at Artworld
Artwork Photography for Mous Lamrabat courtesy of INFINIMENT COTY PARIS © THOMAS LEVY
John Glacier wears cape by WALES BONNER
Hair for John Glacier BATISEOL GOMIS at Saint Luke Artists using Amika and Dyson
Make-up for John Glacier HELAYNA SHELTON using Mac Cosmetics
