By Phebe Wahl By Phebe Wahl | October 11, 2023 | Style & Beauty,
A fragrance masterfully composed by Francis Kurkdjian captures the very soul of Dior, striking a new harmony.
L’Or de J’adore essence de parfum
Guided by the words of Christian Dior: “Respect tradition and dare to be bold.” Francis Kurkdjian sought to capture the very soul of the Maison as he reimagined the iconic J’adore.
At the very heart lay J’adore’s floral bouquet—and this is where the celebrated visionary dared to be bold. Pruning down the bouquet, Kurkdjian opted for radical minimalism and organic sensuality—amping the concentration level to unprecedented levels. As if on a quest to refine gold to its purest composition, he isolated and extracted flowers, then exaggerated them for a new signature. The floral notes strike a new harmony as they all resound in union in chorus. Jasmine, rose, and ylangylang reverberate at full force while lily of the valley and violet sing, bright and beautiful. “Taking possession of this almost pictorial profusion required me to dive head-first into the formula and mix up its richness to retain only the essentials: a sensual rose and powerful jasmine brightened by a solar ylang. I therefore summed up and defined this dense bouquet with the desire to find a new harmony and a new balance for its proportions,” says Kurkdjian. The result is a powerful, resounding chorus of rounded and full-bodied florals that surround the senses in sensual beauty.
“Christian Dior used to say that his models represented all the women in the world,” says Kurkdjian. “Thanks to the intact magic and the power of J’adore, I dared to imagine that I, in turn, was taking possession of all the flowers in the world—with all the audacity, the extravagance and the rigor that are the signature of the Dior spirit,” he explains. “I wanted to move from the aura of J’adore to that of L’Or de J’adore and to its olfactory quintessence, free of all superfluous elements. I wanted to give the J’adore floral signature more streamlined, contemporary and universal accents. Like shining a new light on J’adore, which is an impressionist masterpiece, composed of a myriad of kaleidoscopic touches.”
The smooth, rounded edges of Kurkdjian’s new L’Or de J’adore fragrance come to life in the bottle’s organic curves. Its refined gold accents reflect the warmth and fluidity of the scent within. The lid becomes a talisman to be treasured and reused (the minimalist glass body of the L’Or de J’adore amphora will be available as a refill from March 2024). J’adore has been made modern in every sense. Streamlined, extracted and amplified to its most striking form.
“The formula now seems tighter,” says Kurkdjian. “I have, in a way, exaggerated the floral contours to make their nuances more prominent and thereby define a new texture similar to that of fluid and enveloping gold. A new sensuality, immediately appealing.”
Meticulously reimagined by a maestro as a new composition, it is pitch-perfect.
Photography by: PHOTO COURTESY OF BRAND