The fragrance l’étiquette is, above all, the story of friends who appreciate simple, beautiful things. When Marc Terlet, co-founder of Horace, suggests to his friends and founders of L’Étiquette—Marc Beaugé, Gauthier Borsarello, and Basile Khadiry—that they create a fragrance, one thing is clear: they want to make a lavender that lasts. Then add a cigarette twist. Then ask perfumer Caroline Dumur to bring the idea to life.
Discover how they all came together to create the fragrance l’étiquette.
Marc Terlet : We're here to talk about the fragrance, l'étiquette.
Gauthier Borsarello : Exactly.
Marc Terlet : Made with?
Gauthier Borsarello : L'Étiquette. And Horace.
Marc Terlet : And Horace. And Caroline Dumur. Maybe to start with the origins of the collaboration?
Marc Beaugé : A very simple message.
Marc Terlet : “How about making a fragrance together? We’re making hand-crafted perfume in Grasse now, and while working on our next ones, I thought it would be fun to do it with you since you’re great enthusiasts.”
Gauthier Borsarello : And it answers a problem that Basile and I have had for a long time, which is finding a lavender. A great French classic.
Basile Khadiry : Yeah, yeah. A lavender that can last beyond the moment... When you leave your bathroom, it’s still there. That’s a bit of the issue with lavenders. There has to be something contemporary, something now, that works with what L'Étiquette represents, what Horace is, what French perfumery is.
Gauthier Borsarello : Basile is really an expert in perfumes. So I was always asking him for something similar to what I already had, but that could last. In the message, it was clear that this was the brief.
Marc Terlet : The inspiration is a grey fresco suit impregnated with a lavender sachet that would have been in the wardrobe with a smell of cigarette. We went with that, and actually, for the anecdote, I believe you never had the brief, did you?
Caroline Dumur : Not really (laughs). No, I was told it needed a lavender, but a revisited classic. I was still given information about the tobacco smell. How, with classic raw materials, could we find the right balance to revisit it and have something more unexpected or contemporary?
Marc Beaugé : Without being anecdotal. So there was still something, a character.
Basile Khadiry : There was this desire for modernity, which is why Horace is great to do this with you because it completely fits that.
Gauthier Borsarello : And the cigarette adds that, that slightly smoky thing.
Marc Terlet : At one point, you came to the office and had photos, and all the guys had cigarettes.
Caroline Dumur : Lavender has a very chic, very dressed-up side. So the idea was really to keep that side, from the start to the base, but trying to find a disbalance to bring something that gives modernity.
Gauthier Borsarello : With clothes, I mean, a suit, it’s either outdated or modern depending on the cut, the collar, the width of the trousers. Similarly, with perfume, you take a very classic base and just add something or remove something, and it makes an immense difference in the perception.
Caroline Dumur : I thought of its mineral side because I find that in tobacco, sometimes, there’s a slightly animalistic edge. It’s really that facet that I tried to modernize. I built the tobacco with cypress, which is both fresh but also almost resinous with cashmeran. Now, cashmeran is a synthetic raw material, but it has this very enveloping, vibrant side. For me, it’s a rather modern raw material. The idea was to have all these raw materials interlock, but try to surround them with much more fluid, much more modern woody notes.
Marc Terlet : What does the galbanum do to the tobacco to create that slightly more cigarette-like side?
Caroline Dumur : There’s already this resinous tobacco facet, but there’s also something that calls for tobacco. It’s almost like an addiction.
Marc Terlet : I find the beauty of the fragrance you made, l'étiquette, that we made together, is that it manages to be modern. Can you smell it?
Gauthier Borsarello : With pleasure.
Marc Beaugé : Let’s go!
Marc Terlet : What does it make you think of when you smell it?
Marc Beaugé : To me, it’s cleanliness, spontaneously.
Basile Khadiry : The top notes, you immediately get that, right?
Gauthier Borsarello : The bathroom. Soap, bathroom, the morning, at least.
Basile Khadiry : Yes, my father in the morning, my grandfather in the morning, it’s a bit like that.
Caroline Dumur : The idea was to keep that clean smell but also simplify it.
Marc Beaugé : There’s something very masculine, quite assertive.
Caroline Dumur : At the start, we have this juniper essence that really gives a very clean, very aromatic side as an opening. It really links to lavender. It’s both very fresh but also very warm. The warm side is dressed with tobacco notes, tonka bean, which also has a strong almond smell and really helps emphasize the tobacco scent.
Marc Terlet : We tried three versions. We went with the aromatic lavender, saying, from here, we add the cigarette twist.
Marc Beaugé : We make it in Grasse. There’s also a care in the crafting process that’s important, and it’s also something in l'étiquette.
Marc Terlet :It’s a very artisanal profession. And what we really like doing with Horace is making sure you can recognize the raw materials. And indeed, being able to do that with ingredients that are both beautiful and natural is very French. It’s very beautiful. Thank you.
Marc Beaugé : Thank you, Horace.
Gauthier Borsarello : It’s more us who thank Horace. And you (Caroline), of course, for the fragrance. For your support.
Marc Beaugé : For turning our dreams into perfume bottles.
Marc Terlet : It’s cool. It’s the first time we’ve done a fragrance collaboration. Plus, I’m really happy to do it with you.
Marc Beaugé : You’ve already posed for L'Étiquette, too.
Marc Terlet : Yes, I’ve already posed for L'Étiquette, and you’ve supported us with Horace from the beginning. It’s cool to do something with friends. Thank you so much, Caroline, because for once, we wrote on the pack that it’s a new classic, and it really is a new classic.
Marc Beaugé : Well done, Caroline.
Caroline Dumur : Thank you. I’m very honoured.
You can watch the video of this conversation :