by Aude
Ok, I’m no going to pretend and lie. I’m such a diptyque addict. I love the brand from their signature scented candles to their truly beautiful beauty lines and I wish I could have a diptyque candle in each and every room of my flat (not that I have 10 rooms in my flat, Hong Kong style it’s more like a tiny box) and a diptyque shelve in my bathroom. I was therefore quite excited to discover their newly opened IFC flagship and the brand-new Hong Kong candle.
Ok, I’m no going to pretend and lie. I’m such a diptyque addict. I love the brand from their signature scented candles to their truly beautiful beauty lines and I wish I could have a diptyque candle in each and every room of my flat (not that I have 10 rooms in my flat, Hong Kong style it’s more like a tiny box) and a diptyque shelve in my bathroom. I was therefore quite excited to discover their newly opened IFC flagship and the brand-new Hong Kong candle.
The second you step in the shop, you enter diptyque’s poetic world. And that smell … divine! Loving the translucent column w/ icicle-like cobblestones imprisoning the ditpyque candles. So hard to choose which one is my fav! Maybe Figuier … I absolutely love this one and always end up buying it.
But not this time, this time I went for the Hong Kong Candle, a Hong Kong limited edition – a graphic and colourful candle inspired by the urban density surrounding us and with an addictive, almost powdery, scent of Bauhinia orchid wrapped in rice steam.
Hong Kong Candle
HKD 650
Hong Kong Candle
HKD 650
Most people know diptyque for the candles, but did you know they also have a beauty line? It’s probably the most desirable one ever: Eaux de parfums, Eaux de toilette, Facecare and Bodycare (including the most amazing Satin Oil for Body and Hair.
In this brand-new shop, all the Maison’s fragrances are presented in the painter’s palette, a beautiful box placed in front of French artist Nicolas Lefeuvre beautiful artwork created exclusively for this Hong Kong shop.
I had to spend a little time w/ him and have him tell me more about this quite fascinating art-piece and his collaboration with one of my fav lifestyle brand ever.
I had to spend a little time w/ him and have him tell me more about this quite fascinating art-piece and his collaboration with one of my fav lifestyle brand ever.
French born, Hong Kong based … tell me a little bit more about your background. How did you end up here, in this exciting city?
After studying at Beaux-Arts in Rennes (France) and architecture/ product design at Camondo in Paris, I left Paris in 2000 and went on an “inspirational trip” around Asia (Nepal, South East Asia, ...). A trip that lasted almost a year and which aim was to sketch and “see” (from morning lights to old ceramic tiles ...everything was inspiration). I eventually settled down in Singapore opening a showroom and gallery. I then started to work as Creative Director for a French luxury brand* which sent me to Tokyo in 2008, then to Hong Kong, in 2013, where I also set up an independent music label in China.
*editor’s note: Chanel
How is like to collaborate with a brand like diptyque?
It was very moving and personal.
I remember my mother burning the Aubépine (hawthorn) candle at home when I was younger... Also, I have been working with the Lavender Leaf candle for almost 10 years I think! Besides, I really love the story of the brand: travelling and bringing back treasures,
scents, memories, ... which matches with my work and my personal experiences.
How did the collaboration go? Was it a lot of back and forth before you really started working on your art piece or was it pretty clear from the beginning what you wanted to do and you had the freedom to go that way?
It all started when the team saw my work in an exhibition I had last year. I then went to Paris to discover their magical universe. That is when we realized “Landscape” was a common word/language between us. diptyque elaborates its fragrances this way, imagining “olfactive landscapes”.
So, I knew exactly what I wanted to bring, build, represent in this fresco, and had a total freedom to create...
Speaking of this fresco, can you tell us a little bit more about it – for those who haven’t been to the shop yet?
This artwork is a “Landscape” part of my series “LAND(E)SCAPES”. It is a mental photography made combining images, memories, sounds, but also scents I had in HK.
We often see HK in its verticality, so I wanted to come up with horizontal lines in order to contrast with this verticality and remind people that HK is not only buildings and skies but the sea has an important role here. I have almost always been living by the sea (from France to HK, Singapore, Japan...), so of course it is reflected here. Also, I mostly work early morning or at night, and always loved HK by night: that’s why these gold lines are imaginary horizons of city lights from the evening.
I am not an artist with political messages or strong claims. I am just travelling through a quest of aestheticism.
Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! People, music, objects, buildings, electrical lines, scents, memories from childhood, cities ...
Also I work mostly with ink, on paper, using objects which surround me (kimonos, Japanese wooden shoes, mahjong dices, stamps, ink rollers, wood blocks…), so the place I live in is also an influence.
Your dream collaboration?
With Hong Kong Madame of course!
Editor’s note: whoa, I’d definitely loved such a collaboration!
After studying at Beaux-Arts in Rennes (France) and architecture/ product design at Camondo in Paris, I left Paris in 2000 and went on an “inspirational trip” around Asia (Nepal, South East Asia, ...). A trip that lasted almost a year and which aim was to sketch and “see” (from morning lights to old ceramic tiles ...everything was inspiration). I eventually settled down in Singapore opening a showroom and gallery. I then started to work as Creative Director for a French luxury brand* which sent me to Tokyo in 2008, then to Hong Kong, in 2013, where I also set up an independent music label in China.
*editor’s note: Chanel
How is like to collaborate with a brand like diptyque?
It was very moving and personal.
I remember my mother burning the Aubépine (hawthorn) candle at home when I was younger... Also, I have been working with the Lavender Leaf candle for almost 10 years I think! Besides, I really love the story of the brand: travelling and bringing back treasures,
scents, memories, ... which matches with my work and my personal experiences.
How did the collaboration go? Was it a lot of back and forth before you really started working on your art piece or was it pretty clear from the beginning what you wanted to do and you had the freedom to go that way?
It all started when the team saw my work in an exhibition I had last year. I then went to Paris to discover their magical universe. That is when we realized “Landscape” was a common word/language between us. diptyque elaborates its fragrances this way, imagining “olfactive landscapes”.
So, I knew exactly what I wanted to bring, build, represent in this fresco, and had a total freedom to create...
Speaking of this fresco, can you tell us a little bit more about it – for those who haven’t been to the shop yet?
This artwork is a “Landscape” part of my series “LAND(E)SCAPES”. It is a mental photography made combining images, memories, sounds, but also scents I had in HK.
We often see HK in its verticality, so I wanted to come up with horizontal lines in order to contrast with this verticality and remind people that HK is not only buildings and skies but the sea has an important role here. I have almost always been living by the sea (from France to HK, Singapore, Japan...), so of course it is reflected here. Also, I mostly work early morning or at night, and always loved HK by night: that’s why these gold lines are imaginary horizons of city lights from the evening.
I am not an artist with political messages or strong claims. I am just travelling through a quest of aestheticism.
Where do you find inspiration?
Everywhere! People, music, objects, buildings, electrical lines, scents, memories from childhood, cities ...
Also I work mostly with ink, on paper, using objects which surround me (kimonos, Japanese wooden shoes, mahjong dices, stamps, ink rollers, wood blocks…), so the place I live in is also an influence.
Your dream collaboration?
With Hong Kong Madame of course!
Editor’s note: whoa, I’d definitely loved such a collaboration!