Thanks To Hermès, Chypre Fragrances Just Got More Luxurious

In fragrance, chypre is the Birkin of olfactive families. Defined by a specific archetype of bright citrus, floral, and earthy wood notes, the perfume world often describes these scents as complex and mysterious – not unlike the process of securing one of Hermès’ iconic handbags. It was only fitting the storied French fashion house’s first foray into chypres was Barénia, an eau de parfum inspired by the Barénia leather used to craft the covetable handbag. Thanks to social media, the popularity of both the Birkin and chypre fragrances are at an all-time high. So Hermès is diving deeper into the scent category with the launch of Barénia Pleine Fleur.

Hermès perfumer Christine Nagel says this addition to the Barénia fragrance collection is a lighter, more floral-forward take on the original that further evokes the feeling of touching the house’s soft leather. Pleine fleur translates to “full grain,” which is the highest quality grade of leather. So yes, a bag made of Barénia pleine fleur is a hot commodity.

“Barénia is the most gorgeous leather in the house,” Nagel tells TZR. “I love this leather because it it has a unique sensuality, and in terms of patina, if there's a scratch, you can massage the leather long enough and it will disappear. The texture of the leather is central to it — I get goosebumps sometimes when I touch Berénia leather — so I wanted to convey the sensuality of buying [it]. With this scent, I wanted it have a lightness and openness to it that makes you want to dive in.”

To translate the sensation of touching leather into scent, Nagel swapped the butterfly lily note in the original Barénia for soft petals of Madonna lily. “I really wanted to come up with a more floral version of Barénia, but I did not want to work with the flowers traditionally used in chypre fragrances, like jasmine, so I chose the Madonna lily because it’s quite prestigious — in a bouquet if you have this lily, you only smell it because it has a great presence.”

The Madonna lily extract in Barénia Pleine Fleur was created using replanted bulbs sourced from the Netherlands after Nagel realized there wasn’t enough of the existing extract she had to mass produce a fragrance. “This type of lily is really for sexy women, and I wanted to have lily in the fragrance, but I also wanted it to be airy and joyful at the same time.” So the perfumer added orange blossom, then anchored the top and heart notes with a base of roasted oakwood, Gayo patchouli, and miracle berry.

Lilies have never smelled so luxurious. Like the original Barénia, this fragrance is housed in a refillable bottle topped with a silver plate that’s embossed with the house’s Clou Médor studs. It’s available at hermes.com and Hermès boutiques, and retails for $113 (1.01 fl. oz), $147 (2.03 fl. oz), and $183 (3.38 fl. oz).