In its own space at Ion Orchard, the Maison is a place to play, love and share the brand’s creative juices in a range of nuances and forms.
In its own space at Ion Orchard, the Maison is a place to play, love and share the brand’s creative juices in a range of nuances and forms.
Previously known as Le Collection Privee, Maison Christian Dior, in the words of Francois Demachy, the brand’s perfumer-creator since 2006, is an “evolution” of its earlier incarnation. Created for the Middle Eastern market in 2010 and presented in old-world-meets-new-world glass bottles, Le Collection Privee became, well, “too private and exclusive”, and “we decided to open the concept to all, and made the fragrances fresher and lighter for a global audience and different cultures”, says Demachy.
A name change doesn’t change Demachy’s point of view for this brand of perfumes – which is to be very different, very edgy, using only natural raw ingredients that are harder to get and available in smaller quantities.
That POV has expanded to include other ways to enjoy fragrances – candles, bar soaps and silk scarves (an assortment from the Mitzah collection) – to complete the fragrant experience, whether you want it on you or enveloping you. Coming up at the end of this year: five body creams that complement five of the fragrances.
WHAT’S IN STORE
Five floral, five light floral, four fruity fresh, four sensual and two oriental. They come in four sizes (40ml-450ml), and are $140-$625 each.
Crafted by the famous French wax manufacturer Perron Rigot, each candle, priced at $115, is housed in Limoges porcelain and burns for 70 hours. Accessories like candle stands ($40 each), lids ($40 each) and snuffers ($48 each) are available too.
Aside from creating all the Maison’s products, Dior’s perfumer-creator Francois Demachy is also the nose behind the brand’s Poison Girl, J’Adore and Miss Dior. He shares two ways to do any fragrance better.
• Perfume is the closest to wine – natural, and all about balance and stability. Like wine, it has three enemies: daylight, varied temperature, and oxygen. To preserve the integrity of any perfume, keep it in its box in a cool, dark place. Humidity is not the problem; temperature change is. And you should always close the bottle properly.
