[untitled] (2009)
by Kenzo

Kenzo Unidendified Fragrance Object (UFO)

I am a fan of Kenzo as a House, overall. I am especially a fan when they give perfumers some leeway to be creative as they did Dominique Ropion in Jungle L'Elephant. I was very excited to hear that they had asked Aurelien Guichard to create a 2009 limited edition Unidentified Fragrance Object ( Parfum Objet Non Identifie ). M. Guichard stated he was designing this scent around a heart which contained a "marble accord". Marble as in the material used by sculptors and this had me really looking forward to a mineral-laden scent and M. Guichard does not disappoint. The top of UFO is reminiscent of M. Guichard's Bond No. 9 Andy Warhol Silver Factory as UFO also starts with a metallic note. In this case it feels like the metal of the chisel before it starts to bite into the marble. There is a note of orange blossom to keep the metallic accord from getting too strong. The heart is the promised "marble accord" and it has a cool stone quality to it but it also has a curious kind of wamth as well as it turns deeper and more minerally in character. It is like the sun is warming the stone as it is being worked upon. all throughout the development of this stony aspect a sheer frankincense is in place as it seems this artist works with a cone of incense burning in their studio. UFO really stays in place as a mix of incense and marble for a very long time finally allowing a base of vanilla to join them in the end. UFO has above average longevity and is very close wearing with little sillage. Aurelien Guichard is becoming one of those perfumers who is working in extremely interesting directions, for me, and if he keeps working with the same kind of artistry he shows in UFO he won't be "unidentified" for too much longer.

10th October, 2009.