26 August 2017

Perfume tip: 'Woman in Gold' by Kilian pays homage to Gustav Klimt's portrait of art patron Adele Bloch-Bauer

It's like the scent of elegant Viennese art, literature salons of the early 20th century merges with today's refined high-perfumery compositions built upon dramatically interacting layers! The new perfume 'Woman in Gold' (premiere on 15 September) by Kilian can be described as glamorously shining fragrance-time-travel. With powdery turn-of-the-century notes (vanilla, patchouli) and fresh-floral active-urban nuances (bergamot, rose) it's a hazardous olfactory journey over around 100 years. Perfumer Calice Becker composed Kilian Hennessy's impressions of the reflections of gold seen at the portrait of Viennese art patron Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt. The iconic artwork from 1907 is also known as 'Woman in Gold'. It was confiscated by the Nazis in 1938, became later part of the Galerie Belvedere in Vienna, was returned in 2006 to the family and is now part of the permanent collection of the Neue Galerie in New York.

The composition is extraordinary - and such as it's signature for Kilian perfumes - thrilling and elegant. 'Woman in Gold' is from the new 'From Dusk till Dawn' collection by Kilian. The enamel decorated etui pays visually tribute to Klimt's work which was inspired by the Byzantine mosaics the Viennese painter once saw at the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna.