Notes:
Top: neroli of Tunisia, lemon from Syracuse, bergamot
Middle: lentiscus, juniper berry
Base: incense, musk, cedarwood

"We all associate smell with a sense of place, time and experience.

As I was growing up, I moved around and readapted to new scenarios and smell marked a big part of these shifts in environment.

'Airborne', also the title of the Hussein Chalayan Autumn Winter 2007 collection, developed with Comme des Garçons Parfums, is an attempt to capture a sense of my journeys from Cyprus to London.

We started the process by dissecting all the possible smells from the Northern Cypriot topography, from flowers, weeds, vegetables to air, the sea, earth and wood and where possible their burnt and fresh variations.

After selecting different elements such as neroli, lemon and lentiscus from Cyprus, I proposed an imaginary scenario as to how these ingredients could incur change during and after an air journey from Mediterranean Cyprus to a London urban setting. These ingredients in an urban environment can become more electric or synthetic but captivating, connecting you to a familiarity of the past or a possible unknown world of the future.

Airborne can culminate in a synesthetic omnipresent experience blurring the lines between movement, place and time. It could also become a catalyst for new associations that the user will create through their own experiences."

— Hussein Chalayan

Perfume concept by Hussein Chalayan
Bottle and packaging by Hussein Chalayan
Perfume creation by Comme des Garçons
Produced by Comme des Garçons

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