Etat Libre d'Orange
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Champagne accord meets grapefruit in a tart, fizzing introduction that's all pith and fermented grapes, the cardamom lending a cool, almost gin-like botanical quality. There's an immediate brightness, yes, but also a curious yeasty depth that suggests something far more complex than simple citrus freshness. It's bracingly modern, with the kind of sharp elegance that demands attention.
The curry emerges—not as a culinary gag, but as a genuine aromatic voice, its citrus-herbal character weaving through jasmine's white petals like saffron threads through rice. Black pepper amplifies the heat without overwhelming, whilst the jasmine oscillates between sweet and faintly skanky, its indoles playing beautifully against the savoury spice. This is where the fragrance earns its name: familiar elements behaving in genuinely unexpected ways.
Labdanum's leathery amber and sandalwood create a surprisingly soft landing, the Lorenox musk wrapping everything in a second-skin warmth that feels intimate rather than loud. Traces of cardamom still whisper through, now sweetened and woody rather than sharp. What remains is a spiced, musky glow—champagne bubbles long gone flat, leaving only the golden memory of something remarkable indeed.
Remarkable People is an exercise in deliberate contradiction, a fragrance that fizzes with champagne effervescence whilst simultaneously radiating the golden warmth of curry leaf. The opening is a sharp citrus burst—grapefruit pith meeting cardamom's eucalyptus-like facets—doused in the yeasty, almost sourdough-like tang of champagne accord. It's the olfactory equivalent of spilling Bollinger on a silk shirt at a gallery opening: slightly careless, utterly memorable.
The true genius reveals itself in the heart, where Matton orchestrates an audacious collision between jasmine's indolic sweetness and an actual curry accord—not the heavy, turmeric-stained variety, but something closer to fresh curry leaves with their peculiar citrus-herbal bite. Black pepper crackles through like static electricity, preventing the composition from ever settling into conventional prettiness. This is jasmine for people who find traditional white florals tedious, given an angular, savoury edge that references Comme des Garçons' experimental spirit whilst remaining far more wearable.
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3.6/5 (79)