One day, in his grandmother's closet, Jean-Paul Gaultier discovered a corset, "machinery from another age", which was to become an essential part of his collections. He eventually turned it into a real piece of clothing to be seen by all, an arsenal in the game of seduction, a wardrobe item that narrates the body. When he created his perfume, he chose it as the bottle, a nude glass bust encased in its corset, the very idea he wanted to express in the fragrance. Jean-Paul Gaultier brings a whiff of fresh air in this field where the classicism of tired luxury has been the standard. "I didn't want some abstract bottle, a free sculpture, but something realistic. What could be more realistic than a woman's body! I started with the idea of a draped woman's silhouette but the idea grew and it became a bust with well rounded hips, shoulders, a more "pointy" bosom, a small stomach so it wouldn't appear flat from the side? My bottle is headless because the perfume is for a woman who represents all women. I dressed her in a corset, another memory I have of my grandmother. Then I put the whole thing in a tin can because I think cans are beautiful!"



"Perfume is something very important, it's part of everyday life. We have memories of perfumes: when I take the stairs up to my office, I whiff all around me, and I think: "well, so and so is here"? A perfume stirs the memory we have of someone, it's important, essential. A perfume also reminds me of things that have happened, emotions. When I was eight, I went to the Châtelet Theater with my grandmother to see a light opera called "La Rose de Noël" with André Dassary. I clearly remember the instant the red curtain rose. All at once, the smell of rice powder spread throughout the theater. Associated with the stage lights, the music, this mixture has marked me forever.

When I spoke with the "noses" to create my perfume, I spoke of my most poignant memories, memories of scents I still remembered. I wanted a real fragrance with the strong odors I like, face powder for example, but other things like wonderful cooking smells. I wanted a perfume that would make people want to "gobble up" the person in front of them! There is vanilla in my perfume because I love cakes and there are tastes and odors which make you salivate and vanilla is one of those triggers. And then the perfume also has a hint of nail polish remover that I used to smell at my grandmother's house".


What is there is my perfume? The initial head notes are floral and fresh, Tunisian orange blossom blends its mildness with Bulgarian rose, while Italian mandarin and Chinese star anise tell stories of far away places.

Then the middle notes come through, as heady as the orchid combined with Florence iris and Comoro Island Ylang-Ylang which surprises an original India ginger.

The bottom note is a cross of soft vanilla from Reunion and new amber wood, an open marriage arbitrated by a musky tone binder, also never previously used.