For some people obsessed with fragrance, Elements Showcase is equivalent to entering Santa’s workshop before Mr. Claus has distributed his goodies around the world.
I still remember the first Elements Showcase from three years ago and the sense of entering a sanctum sanctorum reserved for fragrance aficionados: arriving at a nondescript portal on Tenth Avenue and 36th Street in the middle of Manhattan in the thick of winter and then riding an elevator upstairs to the sixth floor of Skylight West. It felt like entering a sub rosa realm of rarefied aesthetes who lived for olfactory revelation.
A fantasy world of fragrance, art, and design, the bi-annual Elements Showcase blends fragrance visionaries with artists to create a curated trade show that brings together fragrance fans and buyers, perfumers and scent authorities. The creation of perfumers Frederick Bouchardy and Ulrich Lang and special events maven Jeffrey Lawson, the two-day showcase features interactive art installations, pop-up shops, fragrance workshops, and beauty forums.
Floral installation by Ovando (Source: MRNY)
For the fifth installment of Elements Showcase, Skylight West was transformed into a white wonderland with floral installations by Ovando and artworks by Becca Albee, Monika Bravo, Ashley Hackworth, Christopher K. Ho, and Troy Richards.
On the first evening, The Fragrance Foundation and Elements Showcase hosted the 2nd Annual “Indie” FiFi Award Ceremony Reception, which revealed the winner of the 2013 Fragrance Foundation Indie Award: By Kilian Amber Oud.
It’s been a big year for oud – and for By Kilian, which introduced its Asian Tales collection – but the fifth iteration of Elements Showcase revealed that there’s more to recent fragrance trends than agarwood. In fact, 2013 might well be a year redolent of wood, smoke, and fire.
Juniper Ridge distills “the mountains in a bottle.”(Source: MRNY)
Juniper Ridge from northwestern California recently expanded its line of wild herb soaps and distilled natural products to include fragrances that evoke “life on the trail.” Siskiyou Backpacker’s Cologne derives from a Northwestern conifer located in Siskiyou County, California, which is where founder Hall Newbegin often hikes. One of Juniper Ridge’s stated goals is “evoke the places we love – the High Sierra, Cascades, Big Sur…” Their fragrances – redolent of cedar, sweetgrass, white sage, pine, and juniper – are the olfactory equivalent of “the mountains in a bottle.”
On a similar back-to-nature note, Osense Paris unveiled their scented stick, which combines the Native American tradition of smoking sticks with the techniques of French perfumery. Manufactured in France, the Osense scented sticks are handmade and scented according to locale, such as “Oasis Moonlit Night,” “Under the Stars of Ibiza,” or “Black Sun of Abomey” (which is, apparently, a city in the Zou department of Benin). Distributed by Crafting Beauty, Inc., the scented sticks make charming hostess gifts – and particularly for those in overheated New York apartments.
Joya Studio’s latest collaboration is an encased candle with notes of wood smoke and fire. (Source: MRNY)
Since its inception in 2004, Frederick Bouchardy’s Joya Studio has been a leading proponent for the revival of artisanal techniques in the fragrance industry. The studio’s limited edition collections of candles, fragrances, and accessories are cherished as objets d’art. Joya Studio’s latest collaboration is an encased candle with notes of wood smoke and fire in a limited edition candle case handmade in London from English saddle hide by Oliver Ruuger.
A forum on the second afternoon, in partnership with Perfumer & Flavorist Magazine, was titled “Niche Insights: Global Expert Round Table on What’s Happening and What’s Next.” Moderated by Jeb Gleason-Allured of Perfumer & Flavorist Magazine, the various panelists from Jovoy, Blackbird, Osswald, New London Chelsea, and Harrods discussed the development of niche retail products and their future.
Thirdman’s eaux de colognes are a kind of
“second skin.” (Source: MRNY)
One of Element’s newest exhibitors was Thirdman, whose cinematic name references the shadowy presences in the 1949 British film noir classic “The Third Man.” That classic film proves to be something of a launching point for the fragrance collection which founder Jean-Christophe Le Greves describes as a kind of “second skin” or the perfect undergarments.
Designed to update the popularity and ease of body splashes such as Jean Naté After Bath Splash (1935) or Guerlain’s Eau de Cologne Impériale (1853), Thirdman’s collection of Eau de Colognes are refreshing scents to “live in,” designed to be applied and re-applied, splashed or sprayed. Bottled in streamlined classic vessels with non-slip rubber bottoms (think Effen Vodka), Thirdman colognes are as modern and timeless as a film by Orson Welles.
Other exhibitors at Elements MMXIII included Arquiste, Illuminum, Ineke, Juliet Stewart, Kaia Naturals, Sepai, Sebastien Signs, Recipe for Men, Providence Perfume Co., Cire Trudon, The Vagabond Prince, Nest Fragrances, Ulrich Lang New York, and Caldrea, as well as special edition artwork by Casey Ryder of Studio Number One, the creative agency founded by Shepard Fairey in 2003.
Robertet hosted a ylang ylang perfume workshop with panelists David Moltz of D.S. & Durga, Olivia Jan of Robertet, and Sarah Horowitz of Sarah Horowitz Parfums.
With cover art by Casey Rider, the beautifully-bound Elements Showcase MMXIII resource book remains as a glossy testament to the many fragrance jewels still to be discovered in the months remaining before the next edition of Elements Showcase in August 2013.
LINKS: Elements Showcase
