If you love the smell of books, you might be interested to know that you share company with Karl Lagerfeld. “The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world,” says the fashion designer. He recently partnered with Geza Schoen, Gerhard Steidl, and Wallpaper* magazine to launch Paper Passion fragrance. The perfume was created by Geza, while the packaging is designed by Karl Lagerfeld and Steidl.
“This tells the story of a passion and a twisting plot to put the particular bouquet of freshly printed books in a bottle. Gerhard Steidl was first alerted to the importance of the smell of a book by Karl Lagerfeld, prompting a passion for paper and the composition of a scent on the pages of a book. To Wallpaper* magazine the pairing of the publisher with the perfumer seemed a natural partnership and so the idea for Paper Passion was born. Wallpaper* Magazine commissioned master perfumer Geza Schoen to create a fragrance based on the smell of books to be part of the Wallpaper* magazine Handmade exhibition in Milan.”
“Hidden inside the pages of a book, Paper Passion is accompanied by texts from Karl Lagerfeld, Günter Grass, Geza Schoen and Tony Chambers. ‘You have a book, you open it, there’s a bottle inside and it smells of a book. It might be quirky, but the idea has a simplicity, a linearity,’ says Schoen.”
Available from steidlville.com, UK £70.00, US $115.00, EC €88.00. Via steidlville.com
7 Comments
Marla: What a wonderful idea! I’ve been working on a scent called “Library” for 3 years now, that in part, mimics the scent of old books. We’re a family of bookworms, so we need a good ambient scent in the library. Maybe this is the one?? How do we sample it?? June 5, 2012 at 1:47pm
Victoria: I don’t think that the website offers samples, which is too bad.
Now I want to try your perfume! The smell of a freshly printed book is wonderful, but for me nothing beats the fragrance of old books. June 5, 2012 at 4:36pm
Amer: I like the scent of paper and ink but is this wearable? I think that if it is too realistic it wouldn’t work. I can only guess there will be a mix of muscs involved to “bind” it to skin June 5, 2012 at 5:54pm
Victoria: Wasn’t there a Comme des Garcons perfume that smelled of ink and paper, among other things? I can’t think of its name right now, but I recall that it was wearable for the reason you mention–musks! June 6, 2012 at 5:10am
Fip: I plan on wearing this but not without topping it of with some incense. I believe this will add some refinement if necessary. June 6, 2012 at 3:09pm
Awfulknitter: I tried this the other day (Liberty, in London, is stocking it) – alas, it didn’t smell anything like books to me! At first it didn’t smell much of anything, but the heart and drydown developed a very pleasant, close-to-the-skin, woody-smoky thing. Oh, and the drydown persisted for ages, and was even perceptible after I’d showered. Nice, but hardly striking or original. November 21, 2012 at 5:53am
Victoria: That sounds disappointing, but I appreciate your description. Makes me less interested in spending effort to find a sample. November 21, 2012 at 6:13am