I have always been drawn to different types of smell since childhood, and find inspiration in everything I see around me. Most fragrances tend to evoke different memories. This has moulded and influenced my design aesthetics over the years. I believe that as a designer, one can seek inspiration in all that we see, smell and touch.
Having said that, Chivas 18 in collaboration with four other alchemists, recently hosted a special preview of ‘Expression of Craftsmanship’ that pleases the five senses. It was a really exciting project to work with and I created three different kinds of perfumes which are inspired by Chivas Whiskey. Each of them was created with different sensibilities and ingredients that are a part of Chivas Notes .
The first one, created by Bloom Perfumery and called 18/49, is very fresh and has Citrus as its top note .The second, created by Floris London which is one of the oldest perfumery in London, is called 18/60 and has a marine aquatic floral feel. The third one is created by a bespoke perfumer called Chris Bartlett from Pell Wall perfumes . Called 18/70, the perfume is majorly woody and has 70 notes From Chivas 18.
To create these three perfumes, a lot of research was put into work and it took us time to develop something we love and believed in. The process of making a perfume starts with collecting the initial ingredients, including plant substances. Then, oils are extracted from plants by different methods, such as steam distillation and solvent extraction. The last two steps of the process are blending and ageing.
Prior to the start of the manufacturing process, the ingredients for the perfume must be gathered. Ingredients are often harvested from all around the world, many times being picked by hand. People known as perfume chemists create materials that are not natural such as aromatic chemicals in laboratories. Once all the ingredients are harvested, or created in a lab, the manufacturing process can begin.
In order to create a perfume, oil must be extracted from the natural ingredients. This can be done via several different methods including solvent extraction, maceration, steam distillation, effleurage, or expression. Once all the oils for the perfume have been extracted, they need to be blended together. The oils are blended according to a formula that has been predetermined by a master blender, often referred to as the “nose.”
One perfume can contain hundreds of different ingredients and can take multiple years to develop. Once the perfume oils have been blended, the scent is mixed with alcohol. The amount of alcohol added to the perfume oils varies depending on what the final product is. Higher quality, or fine perfumes are often aged for months or potentially even years after the scent has been blended. This is done to ensure that the proper scent has been created. Ageing allows the different scents, or notes, to re ..
It was a pleasure working with the Chivas team to develop these perfumes. The brand is completing 25 years in the industry this year, and we do have expansion plans for the brand for the next coming years.
As of now, we are not including a perfume line, the challenges which we faced initially were how to grow the business, get more customers, create a brand identity that was consistent, design and know how to raise sponsorship so a show could be executed . All that having been done or no longer relevant as the industry has far more structure, the only big challenge now in front of the established designers is how to take the business to the next level. The level where there is nationwide presence, maybe even global, and the business survives beyond the designer . That is what I believe is the transition from a designer label to a true brand.
[“source-ndtv”]