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- Rituparna Som

Perfume is just fantastic. It really is. Can you imagine a better medium that lets us slip in and out of multiple personalities without calling our shrink on speed dial? Its powerful hold over my memory and sensory palettes mean that it can transport us places, through time, and create pockets of moments where we can be guided by its notes, its myriad mixes of flowers, fruits, and oddball resins. Then there’s the story around each bottle – conjured by its maker, meant to reflect its personality, and sometimes, as is the case with Jean-Paul Gaultier’s latest perfume Scandal, there’s an entire movie with a pantheon of colourful players. Created around a fictitious French political figure it embraces the stereotypes of the country’s insouciant acceptance of dual lives. She might be signing world peace deals in the morning, but as the sun sets, out come her playmates, a bunch of sexy and decidedly unminister-ish group of partygoers. The interactive website (https://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/en-us/ fragrance-scandal-day/) with dedicated portfolios and mini-movies almost makes you forget it’s all for a perfume, until you realise you can carry a bit of the movie magic on you, and boy doesn’t it smell scandalously delicious.

GRAZIA: The word ‘scandal’ insinuates seductive notes and ingredients, and yet the notes here are fruity and floral – almost innocent. How did you visualise that?