These destinations were favored by the French fragrance label’s three founders.
In celebration of its 60th anniversary, French luxury fragrance house Diptyque has announced its new travel-themed Le Grand Tour collection.
This series of limited-edition candles, perfumes, and scented ovals was inspired by the favorite destinations of its founders, Christiane Montadre-Gautrot, Desmond Knox-Leet, and Yves Coueslant. Each scent in the anniversary collection was made in collaboration with a different perfumer.
Paris, one of the scents, is the birthplace of Diptyque where its first boutique still operates today. A rose decorates the classic candle conceived by Olivia Giacobetti. The 190-gram scented candle channels fragrances of polished wood, the pages of old books mixed with the mineral notes of cobblestones, finished up with a touch of smoky notes evocative of tobacco and the city’s open fires.
Gautrot, Leet, and Coueslant also regularly frequented Venice, which is translated into a travel set by Cécile Matton. Decidedly green, the scent’s notes are mingled with bell peppers, tomatoes, citrus fruits, and basil. Each spritz is reminiscent of the fresh vegetable gardens in the Serenissima lagoon, the Mediterranean breeze, and the early morning fresh herbal scents that make up the Venetian ecosystem.
Smelling memories
Meanwhile, Milies in Greece, a favorite holiday destination for the three, is interpreted by Olivier Pescheux through a scent of figs, cypress trees, and immortelle bushes. Packed in white and blue colors, it is topped with a tassel and a string of marble beads inspired by local folklore and Gautrot’s necklaces.
Ten thousand kilometers east, Kyoto often served as a source of inspiration for the founders. Drawing from ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangement, Alexandra Carlin crafted a perfume balancing incense, rose, and vetiver. Using the elegant furoshiki technique, the bottle comes wrapped in a Sarayi floral motif designed by the founding trio.
Rounding off this global tour, Byblos in Lebanon has the oldest port in the world where Leet and Coueslant had once stopped over en route in a trip. The ancient coastal city’s scents are reworked in a candle by Fabrice Pellegrin that has notes of roasted cardamom coffee and cedar wood found in the Ottoman souks..
The Le Grand Tour collection pays homage to the spirit of Diptyque and immerses us in its history that has long been inquisitive, open-minded, and appreciative of beauty and cultures from all around the world.
The collection is available at Adora. For more information, visit Adora.ph.
Banner Photo from @diptyque on Instagram
