Le Grand Tour introduces limited-edition products and a never-before-seen collection of creations by five internationally renowned artists.

Le Grand Tour introduces limited-edition products and a never-before-seen collection of creations by five internationally renowned artists.

WORDS

WORDS

DATE:

SHARE

Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
Email

SHARE

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Artist Zoë Paul at work with ceramic beads. All photography courtesy of diptyque Paris.
Artist Zoë Paul at work with ceramic beads. All photography courtesy of diptyque Paris.

For its 60th anniversary celebration, Maison diptyque went back to its roots. Revisiting five major destinations that have served as inspiration—Paris, Venise, Milies, Kyoto, and Byblos—the parfumerie created Le Grand Tour collection. Pairing five perfumers, some of which diptyque has been working with for decades, with five international artists who designed modern visions of these cities for the labels of new Artist Editions items, the collaborative project lends images and scents to places historically “dreamed of, imaged and appreciated by traveling artists.

While these Artist Editions are premiering for the first time, they echo the Maison’s long-standing mission to find points where art, nature and beauty converge. Their creative collaborators were chosen because “they all have a shared interest in other people and their surroundings,” according to the brand. One of the artists, Hiroshi Sugimoto, splits his time between New York and Tokyo while another, Zoë Paul, lives between London and Greece. Their travels have led them to work with locals whose crafts make up the history and culture of these cities. Ceramic beads made by Paul and female Greek artisans are represented in her diptyque piece, The Cave of Chiron. Nature is a great inspiration for Hiroshi Sugimoto and the Kyoto scent created for him so perfectly captures the aromas of citrus fruits and the air in Kankisuzan, a fertile hillside land that faces the bay of Sagami in Odawara, Japan.

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mathematical Model.

Collaborating with artists and giving them a platform has always been at the forefront of diptyque’s mission and for the first time, the Maison “gave carte blanche” to each contemporary artist. There was only one constraint—“the piece had to be perfumed or diffuse perfume” to make the experience whole. The final products represent the artist’s ingenuity as each one was surprisingly different, yet all poetic and inspiring. La Laguna by Johan Creten is a metaphor for acqua alta, the high water that brings seasonal flooding to Venice, Italy. When the tide returns, Venice is revealed. Creten presents acqua alta symbolically through a bronze color that is hidden in the translucent wax and only discovered as the candle burns. The green, fresh scent “transports you to a Venetian vegetal garden” and successfully accomplishes diptyque’s aim with the entire collection—to make “time for imagination.”

Johan Creten, La Laguna candle for diptyque.

These artist collaborations only reaffirm the original vision of Desmond Knox-Leet, Yves Coueslant and Cristiane Montarde, the three founders of diptyque. The ingenious trio have always been “inquisitive, open-minded and appreciative of beauty and cultures from all around the world,” the brand says in a statement. Le Grand Tour celebrates the Maison’s origin story while introducing a highly elevated and delicate collection of limited-edition, artist-designed products that represent its 60-year evolution into a luxury fragrance house. As for the future, diptyque promises “more surprises,” and certainly more partnerships with artists of all kinds.

Craving more culture? Sign up to receive the Cultured newsletter, a biweekly guide to what’s new and what’s next in art, architecture, design and more.

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors

Not a Doomscroll. A Deep Dive.

Subscribe now for print that informs, inspires, and doesn’t get lost in the feed.

You’ve almost hit your limit.

You’re approaching your limit of complementary articles. For expanded access, become a digital subscriber for less than $2 a week.

You’re approaching your limit of complementary articles. For expanded access, become a digital subscriber for less than $2 a week.

Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here

You’re approaching your limit of complementary articles. For expanded access, become a digital subscriber for less than $2 a week.

GET ACCESS

Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here

Want more in your life?

For less than the price of a cocktail, you can help independent journalism thrive.

Pop-Up-1_c
Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here
Pop-Up-1_c

Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here

Want more in your life?

For less than the price of a cocktail, you can help independent journalism thrive.

Pop-Up-1_c
Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here
Pop-Up-1_c

Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here

You’ve almost hit your limit.

You’re approaching your limit of complementary articles. For expanded access, become a digital subscriber for less than $2 a week.

You’re approaching your limit of complementary articles. For expanded access, become a digital subscriber for less than $2 a week.
Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here
You’re approaching your limit of complementary articles. For expanded access, become a digital subscriber for less than $2 a week.

Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here

Want more in your life?

For less than the price of a cocktail, you can help independent journalism thrive.

Pop-Up-1_c

Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here

Pop-Up-1_c

Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here

We have so much more to tell you.

You’ve reached your limit.

Sign up for a digital subscription, starting at less than $2 a week.

Already a Subscriber? Sign in Here

Want a seat at the table? To continue reading this article, sign up today.

Support independent criticism for $10/month (or just $110/year).

Already a subscriber? Log in.