French actress Isabelle Huppert appears in a Fracas de Robert Piguet ad. photos Provided to China Daily

Joe Garces kept Piguet's original bottle designs when he re-launched the brand, using black glass for the containers.

Robert Piguet's CEO Joe Garces tells Rebecca Lo about a new fragrance collection created with Asian women in mind.

Le French May is an annual event Asia's Francophiles eagerly anticipate. This May, a highlight included the A Touch of Madness film series. The house of Robert Piguet was its partner alongside the sponsor China Vision Media Group. It kicked off with an exclusive party at The China Club. Some 300 well-heeled guests, such as French consul general Arnaud Barthelemy, his wife Elisa Ghigo, and designers Alan Chan and Joyce Wang, were teased with the intoxicating Pacific Collection. The scents created specifically for Asian women by Robert Piguet's master perfumer Aurelien Guichard swirled about the room.

It has always been that way with Robert Piguet. Fracas, created for Piguet in 1948 by legendary perfumer Germaine Cellier, is considered a classic.

With its mesmerizing combination of Indian tuberose, Tunisian orange blossom, French jasmine and Italian iris root butter, Fracas is the favorite of fashion icons from Marlene Dietrich to Madonna - and even designer Marc Jacobs.

Indeed, some claim that Madonna's own perfume Truth or Dare bears more than a passing similarity to Fracas.

Piguet was initially a master Parisian couture designer, who is said to have understood that a woman is truly attired after dabbing on a beloved fragrance.

"The Piguet brand is a part of true French history," says Joe Garces, Robert Piguet Parfums' CEO since 1992.

"In the world of couture, Robert Piguet is perhaps its most important figure. He trained as 'stagiairies' the greatest French masters, including Christian Dior, Pierre Balmin and Marc Bohan - all in his Paris atelier. It is often said that, had he not died at such an early age, his designs and celebrity would have far surpassed that of Coco Chanel."

Piguet passed away five years after Fracas' release. Mismanagement led to a gradual decline of his company and dilution of the brand in the following decades.

Garces had his work cut out for him when he took the reigns. He sourced the original formulae of the house's signature scents, put years into revamping their marketing and got the company out of debt.

He restored the perfumes from Piguet's original 20 fragrances that he thought would best suit today's market and created new ones with the help of Grasse native Guichard.

Today, Robert Piguet Parfums is once again attracting style icons' passionate devotion.

"Isabelle Huppert, a prominent artist of our generation, has professed her love for Fracas de Robert Piguet," Garces says.

"She is an elegant, versatile and beautiful theatrical and film actress from France, who has impressed audiences in Asia with her performances in The Piano Teacher, 8 Women and (South) Korean production In Another Country, directed by Sang-soo Hong.

"We paid tribute to her by producing a limited-edition IH Fracas box set, launched in Paris on the 160th anniversary of Le Bon Marche de Rive Gauche, an iconic fashion department store on the Left Bank."

The Classic series includes Fracas, Nouvelle and Pacific.

"We believe that Chinese women have exceptional taste and they enjoy wearing fragrances that celebrate their individuality," Garces says. "The Pacific Collection is inspired by Asian culture, and these scents are ideal for Chinese women."

He recommends several fragrances for Asian customers, such as Visa.

"This 1945 classic is a beautiful oriental that suits both men and women. It was the first, I believe, to include a little leather. It's fresh and lovely," he says.

"Note S is a men's fragrance and made for me personally. If you know your notes, you'll adore the clary sage in it. Jeunesse is one of the most recent releases and a crisp, fruity cocktail with cassis, pomegranate and raspberry. It's very young, modern and just plain joyful."

One of the biggest hits in China so far is Chai.

"In fact, you can only get it in Asia," Garces says.

"I love this perfume. It's a blend of green tea, lemon and honey. In the humidity of Southeast Asia, I can't imagine anything nicer to douse the heat."

He recalls giving a bottle to a Beijing property businesswoman.

"She was educated in the UK, a mother of two and also a jetsetter," he recalls.

"She told us about her passion for the sweetness of the scent and how she loves the touches of bergamot leaf and white tea.

"Another young female Chinese fashion blogger who lives between Hong Kong and Shanghai has openly said her favorite scent is Oud de Robert Piguet. It has a haunting beauty that contains saffron and myrrh to accent the leathery warmth of oud, while patchouli - with its bitter chocolate note - lends a rich complexity."

He adds that not only Chinese women but also some men "love" Fracas de Robert Piguet.

Garces kept Piguet's original bottle designs when he re-launched the brand. Piguet was the first perfumer to use black glass for his containers.

Robert Piguet Parfums and IH limited box sets are available in Hong Kong exclusively through Lane Crawford at IFC Mall.

"We make our fragrances available to Chinese consumers in Hong Kong since the city is a shopping paradise and easily accessible to prestigious customers from the Chinese mainland and Asia," Garces explains.

"As Chinese customers travel extensively around the world and have become some very important customers to the world's most famous department stores, we are expanding the list of Robert Piguet perfume store locations among the international luxury shopping networks."

Contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn

.

Indian tuberose, Tunisian orange blossom and French jasmine are infused into the fragrance Fracas.

(China Daily 07/28/2013 page13)