Fragrance Introduced by Lacroix
“The first smell is not violent--but daring--like some of the outfits you see in my couture show,” says Christian Lacroix, the 40ish designer who took fashion by storm three years ago when he put women in extravagantly designed “poufs” and was quickly elevated to the pantheon of Paris’ top couturiers.
Lacroix was describing his first fragrance, C’est La Vie, which was launched in the United States at a gala (purportedly price-tagged at about $550,000) for 400 at the Palladium nightclub in New York on Monday. French ballerina Sophie Guillem performed “Bolero,” accompanied by 40 male dancers, on a technically elaborate stage built especially for the occasion. Actor Tony Randall acted as emcee and a catered dinner followed for such Lacroix fans Blaine Trump, artist Julian Schnabel, former Ambassador to France Evan Galbraith and his wife Marie, and Lacroix’s muse and favorite model, silver-haired Marie Seznec.
“Perfume is, above all else, memories. It’s nostalgia made from souvenirs,” says Lacroix, who credits Maurice Roger, chairman of Parfums Christian Lacroix and Parfums Christian Dior with inventing the name.
“While we were coming up with the scent, we had to start again more than once and very often we said, ‘C’est La Vie,’ ” he explains.
The fragrance, a floral bouquet of orange blossom and syringa (a white-flowering shrub found in Lacroix’s native Provence), is packaged in the designer’s signature colors--pink, bright yellow and black. The crystal bottle reflects feminine curves and features a pink stopper shaped like a coral branch.
C’est La Vie will be available in September at I. Magnin, Bullock’s and Robinson’s, with a little more than an ounce of perfume selling for about $163 and 1.7 ounces of eau de toilette selling for $43.
Though Lacroix has no immediate plans to make a store appearance in Los Angeles, he says that he has great affection for the city, which he has visited four times.
“L.A. is really like a movie to me. The people look like actors. The houses look like sets. The way of life is very like where I grew up in the Camargue, in the south of France--sun, pleasure, fun. I feel at home in L.A.”
Just like a Hollywood actor, Lacroix, who is known for his flamboyant colors and extravagant use of embroidery, lace and pattern mixes, says he has suffered a bit from typecasting.
“I think we were caricatured by the first collection,” he says of his frequently copied poufs and the dramatic, ethic styling inspired by Arles, France, with its Gypsies and bullfighting. “But I can’t help using bright colors, embroideries and great patterns because I’m from the south. It’s bred in me. Even the men wear bright outfits. And the Gypsy women--it’s the sensuality of dark women passing through this extravaganza of a place.”
