Fils de Joie by Serge Lutens, a solar fragrance with its origins in the north of France
“Stones, life, mourning, characters, vices or quirks, what facets of ourselves will we make shine? “. This is the question Serge Lutens asks himself when he designs a fragrance from the Black Collection. Indeed, this emblematic olfactory blend is always inspired by lived moments. In 2020, Serge Lutens is developing the Fils de Joie perfume, directly inspired by the childhood of Serge Lutens, who lived in the north of France. So what about this novel and enigmatic recipe? As always, the Serge Lutens house plunges us into an atypical and surprising atmosphere, reserved for initiated consumers of perfumes.
A return to the childhood of Serge Lutens
Serge Lutens was born during World War II, in Lille, in the north of France. From the first weeks of his life, he was separated from his mother, a striking fact that left him with a feeling of original abandonment and a permanent tension. Serge Lutens then grew up between two families and was notably raised partly in the backroom of a bar in the North. Here, Serge Lutens’ Fils de Joie perfume transcribes “the surreal atmosphere of a bar in the North, experienced through the eyes of a child, and the end-of-month endings upstairs”. The result is a nocturnal but radiant composition, all in complexity. What is more, as usual, this perfume by Serge Lutens is accompanied by an enigmatic quote, leaving each consumer free to imagine this composition in their own way: “La rire awaits, une phrase, un mot,” a situation to declare yourself. It can burst or suffocate in the hand that hides it, but if it is true, it cannot be restrained. On the skin, its note is daughter of the shadows but paradoxically, it illuminates! […] The laughter of the disenchanted is that which the son of joy bursts without reason. As a child, in the shadows, he learned drunkenness, tears and illusions. Today, it gives us back the light in a splendid scent of mesk-ellil ”.
Jasmine and ylang-ylang, stars of Serge Lutens’ Fils de Joie perfume
Like all the perfumes in the Black Collection, Fils de Joie by Serge Lutens is presented in a rectangular and elegant glass bottle, very slender towards the sky. All in transparency, it is adorned with a black and red label, while being overhung by a small black cap, a sort of precious marble that we are already looking forward to removing. Here, jasmine and ylang-ylang mingle with a more animal musk. Complex and fascinating, jasmine reveals here several facets of its personality, as if to tell us the ambiguous story of Serge Lutens. In turn, it is tawny, spicy or sunny. The lime tree joins the whole for a powdery and honeyed finish. Finally, the luminous ylang-ylang becomes more sensual and narcotic in contact with the musk.
