MANILA, Philippines— For its 60th anniversary, French luxury fragrance house Diptyque has unveiled its new travel-themed Le Grand Tour collection. This series of limited-edition candles, perfumes, and scented ovals is inspired by the favorite destinations of its founders.
Since 1961, the trio of Christiane Montadre-Gautrot, Desmond Knox-Leet, and Yves Coueslant had used global cultures to nurture their creations and, to this day, Diptyque continues the legacy of intersecting travel with art and opening our eyes to a diverse world with fragrances that engage the senses.
The special anniversary collection was made in collaboration with five expert perfumers who each created an original custom fragrance that takes us on a unique cultural journey from the Occident to the Orient, satisfying our appetite for travel from a new and different perspective. Diptyque’s Le Grand Tour series is now available in the Philippines exclusively through Adora Department Store.
The collection brings five magical destinations have come to life expressed in limited-edition fragrances. The first port of call begins in Paris, the birthplace of Diptyque where its first boutique still operates today, indicated by a compass rose on the ground. That same rose decorates the classic candle conceived by Olivia Giacobetti who takes us on a stroll along the River Seine where weeping willows line up the banks near Parisian antique stores and bookshops. 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.
The odyssey of the senses continues to Venice that regularly charmed Gautrot, Leet, and Coueslant with its languid mystery and shifting colors. Now, a perfume travel set from Cécile Matton leads us to the lush Venetian greenery evoking an earthy fragrance 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.
We then set sail to Milies in Greece, on Mount Pelion that had once become the adoptive home and favorite holiday destination of the founding trio. Captured in a fresh and warm scented oval by Olivier Pescheux, it blends the unforgettable fragrances of fig tree fields bordered with cypress trees and the immortelle bushes along the Greek roads leading to the sea. It is an adventure, a work of art, and a treasured Greek token all at once, packed in white and blue colors representing the sea and spray, and topped with a tassel and a string of marble beads inspired by local folklore and Gautrot’s necklaces.
10,000 kms further East, we head over to Kyoto, the city of art and history, that had often served as a source of inspiration for the Diptyque founders. Drawing from ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangement, Alexandra Carlin crafted a perfume that strikes a subtle balance of incense, rose, and vetiver to echo the triptych of sky, heart, and earth. The scent plays with rhythm and colors that harness the intricate delicacy of flowers and allows time for reflection and balance. Using the elegant furoshiki technique, the bottle comes wrapped in a Sarayi floral motif designed by the founding trio.
Rounding off the tour, we reach Byblos in Lebanon, the oldest port in the world where Leet and Coueslant had once stopped over en route to the Orient. Time stands still as the ancient coastal city’s scents are reworked in a candle by Fabrice Pellegrin that generously evokes notes of roasted cardamom coffee and cedar wood found in the Ottoman souks. The candle is placed in a magnificent vessel decorated with grey and sandy-coloured wisps that recall the roasted coffee smoke, and produced using the ceramic mixed clay technique that makes each one unique.
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.
Every scent of Diptyque’s collection of high-end fragrances that are now available at Adora department store, Manila’s most inspirational center of fashion, beauty, accessories, and jewelry.