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photography by richard Schroeder (ellena) heart of the scent seconds after application, and the base notes that linger long after the perfume has dried on the skin. With Cuir d'Ange, the first spray bursts into a generous—but not overly f loral—bouquet that's just sweet enough for a woman and yet robust enough for a man. Minutes later, it settles into a gorgeous veil of caramel, pipe tobacco, and a sprinkling of breezy wildf low- ers. It feels beautiful on the skin, too—like cool, expen- sive, powder-soft suede.... "Angel leather," asserts Ellena, referencing the words of early-20th-century French author Jean Giono, who has been a source of inspiration for Ellena for over three decades. In his autobiogra- phy, Jean le Blue (Blue Boy), Giono describes his father in his cobbler's workshop, "busy making shoes in angel leather for some god with a thousand feet." For Ellena, who compares his process of creating fragrances to that of writing a book, Giono's phrase "angel leather," combined with his own epiphany at the Hermès vault, provided the compel- ling concept Ellena needed for his next fragrance masterpiece. Tell us more about the connection you make between literature and fragrance. I am a writer of smells. For me, perfume is more a poetic creation than a concept. It touches us, moves us, fires our imagination. I have a writer's approach. I tell stories with perfume. Perfumers all use the same ingredients and raw materi- als. It's their writing talent that makes the difference. Why are you inspired by the author Jean Giono? I see literature—with a capital L—as significant. It has always fueled my imagination, but it's true I have a special relationship with Jean Giono, which must derive from our Provençal origins and how we understand the world. Why did it take 10 years to create Cuir d'Ange? It's a slow process—and very Eau My Word! A stunning new frAgrAnce from Hermès tAkes its inspirAtion from iconic leAther hAndbAgs—And sensuAl french literAture. by mandi norwood Jean-Claude Ellena at his workshop in the south of France near Grasse, the perfume capital. below right: Ellena's new fragrance, Cuir d'Ange, was inspired by the leather used to make classic Hermès bags like this Oxer saddle bag. "I realIzed that each leather had a dIfferent scent, and the most beautIful smelled of flowers." —jean-claude ellena When Jean-Claude Ellena became "the nose" of Hermès 10 years ago, his first port of call was the maison's leather vault in Paris. Providing specialized storage for the skins that form the brand's iconic luggage and handbags, "it was a marvelous treasure," Ellena recalls, "an Ali Baba's cave, where each piece of leather was arranged by characteristic and color. "There I saw and touched the most beautiful leather, even some that weighed only a few grams in my hand, so soft that I hardly dared to touch it," he says. "I realized that each leather, tanned naturally, had a different scent, and the most beautiful and expensive pieces smelled of f lowers…. I was seized by happiness and decided right then that I wanted to create a perfume inspired by leather." This month, 67-year-old Ellena's dream is realized in the form of Cuir d'Ange (angel leather), a fragrance that's both gentle and assertive, shifting between delicate heliotropes and woody hawthorn, bashful violets and narcissi, and unrestrained musk. As with all fragrances, there are layers of notes: the top notes that provide the first fragrant impression, the middle ones that form the continued on page 56... 54 bostoncommon-magazine.com STYLE Uncommon Scents