AnOther and Editions de Parfums Frédéric celebrated the launch of Northern Love, a nostalgic new fragrance designed by perfumer Bruno Jovanovic around the idea of courage, with a panel talk in Paris hosted by Susie Lau. Here’s what went down
Frédéric MalleOn a mild Monday evening in Paris’s Le Marais, AnOther Magazine and Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle co-hosted an intimate soirée and panel talk to celebrate the launch of the house’s new perfume, Northern Love, created by master perfumer Bruno Jovanovic.
Guests gathered at CØR Studio, a women-led creative agency and gallery space, ahead of the discussion, which would unpick the very sentiment behind the perfume: courage.
Panel host Susie Lau invited model and actress Raya Martigny, photographer and movement director Pat Boguslawski, cook and founder of creative gastronomy concept studio Caro Diario, Zélinka Dinga, and the mastermind behind Northern Love, perfumer Bruno Jovanovic, up to the stage for a conversation that navigated the many dimensions of courage.
“When you hear the word ‘courage’, what is the first moment in your life or career that comes to mind?” Lau asked. Panelists reflected on formative moments within their careers, pivotal acts of creative bravery, and experiences that have shaped them in their work. They thought about particular people and periods in life that changed each panelist’s career trajectory. There were some hard-hitters too. “If you could speak to the younger version of yourself at the moment just before you took your biggest creative risk, what would you tell them?”
Courage guided Jovanovic’s composition of Northern Love – for him, it was a meditation on having the courage to feel, not to resist emotions but to embrace them. A complex melange of creamy sandalwood, warm vanilla and spicy cinnamon, the fragrance elicits a sense of nostalgia, comfort and intimacy, inspired by a yearning for emotional truth.
Northern Love goes beyond scent alone, embodying the foundations on which it was built. Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle and AnOther extended the project through a campaign titled Notes on Feeling, working with designer Supriya Lele and photographer David Luraschi, two makers at the forefront of culture, to further explore ideas of creative chaos, nostalgia and courage. For Lele, Northern Love reminds her of the sensory world of her childhood: spices, jasmine and the feeling of two places and identities, British and Indian, existing at once. For Luraschi, meanwhile, the fragrance recalls an unexpected morning in Riga, Latvia, when he found himself following elderly women in beautiful patterned dresses through the streets, driven by pure wonder and curiosity.
Honing in on a particular feeling, place, person and transposing it through the senses, is fundamental to how Jovanovic creates fragrances. Having trained at the French perfumery school ISIPCA after earning a degree in Physics and Chemistry at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Jovanovic made a name for himself in the fragrance industry, spending some 20 years between New York and Paris working with leading fragrance houses on some of the most celebrated fragrances. Think Fahrenheit Le Parfum at Dior, Monsieur by Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle and L’Homme Idéal for Guerlain, among others. Northern Love is his latest.
Bottles of the fragrance were placed through the space for guests to experience, alongside the house’s full collection, showcasing its diverse portfolio of modern and timeless scents – each bottle labelled with the name of its creator. And it wouldn’t be a party in Paris without a good glass of wine from across the French regions, a list curated for guests by cult Parisian culinary group Reussette. C’était une soirée parfaite.