Interview Patrick Kasingsing
Images Aesop (Aurner)
Hello Celine, welcome to Kanto, and thanks for your time! Had the pleasure of attending the Aesop Aurner Manila launch, where I finally got acquainted with the rebellious addition to Aesop’s fragrance stable. Aurner plays with the tension between tenderness and strength, challenging traditional ideas of a floral fragrance. What drew you to this duality, and how does it connect to Aesop’s broader approach to scent?
Céline Barel, perfumer and creator of Aurner: Aurner Eau de Parfum is a non-conformist defiant bloom embedded with tensions and contrast. It has been created with the intent of extending Aesop’s olfactive range, further exploring florals in Aesop’s signature unorthodox approach. These tensions are embodied in contrasts such as the fragility of the flowers versus the strength of the woods; transparency of the bloom versus solid of the woods; fresh versus warm; vegetal versus mineral, almost metallic; feminine versus masculine and being simple yet complex.
Exploring the floral category for Aesop was a big creative challenge. I wanted to honor Aesop’s approach to non-conformity. This means the composition needed to be truly unisex, respecting the Aesop olfactive DNA of being aromatic, woody, raw, and with a certain amount of sharpness, resulting in creating a truly distinctive and unorthodox aroma profile.
What makes Aesop’s fragrance unique? Each of Aesop’s fragrances are rooted in an unconventional blend of aromatic, botanical ingredients, with signature woody and herbaceous elements found in each blend. An Aesop fragrance invites the wearer to connect to themselves as part of the natural world and the essential.
Fragrance trends don’t emerge in a vacuum. Have you noticed a growing appetite for scents that challenge familiar categories? What factors do you think are driving this shift?
Barel: With Aesop, the idea is always to launch fewer but better products, ignoring industry trends to focus on creating timeless formulations that serve a genuine purpose.
I am looking forward to seeing Aurner pave the way for inspiring unusual takes on floral fragrances, as well as the use of ingredients such as the magnolia leaf and chamomile which are perhaps unique in current fragrance compositions.
On that subject; Choosing magnolia leaves over the flower itself feels like a quiet act of rebellion. Was that always the plan, or did the creative process lead you there?
Barel: We began working on different flowers at the beginning, but very quickly magnolia seemed to be the right choice, and specifically the leaf versus the petal. The magnolia flower has a ripe fruity facet that offers more of a spicy floral whereas the magnolia leaf has a crisp aromatic freshness that is somehow between a crushed leaf and lavender. It is very complex, bright, clean and bloomy – almost citrusy green so not an obvious floral, which felt true to Aesop’s unorthodox approach.
Aesop has never followed the crowd in fragrance. While working on Aurner, was there ever a temptation to push even further into abstraction, or was there a clear structure guiding the scent?
Barel: When developing a fragrance for a brand like Aesop I am always looking to bring an edge. It should not be something smooth, soft or mainstream. The creative process was very unique for me, and even in the industry I think it’s innovative; Aesop’s approach to briefing is fascinating and very distinctive.
My first encounter with Aesop began in 2006. I created Tacit Eau de Parfum in 2015. Through our longstanding relationship and mutual respect we reconnected in 2021 to begin discussing Aurner Eau de Parfum. A succession of casual meetings proved that we still share a similar artistic vision after all the years. It was a magical encounter between human beings, sharing common aesthetics, values, level of appreciation towards literature, ways of travelling, way of coping with the unknown, the foreign and the exoticism.
The brief included multiple interesting references such as photography, illustrations, collages, dried herbs, dried flowers; it really was like a cabinet of curiosities to inspire and intrigue what the future Aurner Eau de Parfum could be.
I’m curious! If Aurner had an ideal wearer, someone from either the past or present who embodies its character, who would it be?
Barel: Aesop fragrances know no gender boundaries; they are intended for all who take pleasure in evocative aromas. We expect Aurner Eau de Parfum to be of particular interest to anyone looking for an unconventional fragrance with a floral, aromatic and fresh aroma profile. Its defiant character, expressed through an arrangement of unexpected contrasts, will appeal to those looking for a floral fragrance that subverts expectations.
We’ve established how Aurner thrives on contrast. Does this reflect a more significant shift in how we think about beauty and identity today?
Barel: I’ve aways liked working with tensions, which is embodied in this floral expression of ‘a defiant bloom’. It defies genders and conventions like all Aesop fragrances yet at the same time portrays tensions between strength and softness. It also illustrates the tension between flowers and woods with vegetal and metal; between something very airy, very celestial, with woods that are extremely grounded and rooted; and between something very luminous and something on the contrary very deep, slightly dark. Aurner is extremely delicate, but at the same time super powerful without being heavy. The curation of these tensions was challenging but also very interesting.
Aesop stores are deeply influenced by their surroundings. Do you see Aurner in a similar way? Does it take on different qualities depending on the wearer, setting, or cultural context?
I received a very rich brief, very poetic and very delicate and this resulted in a fragrance that is mixed with new materials that makes it both contemporary and urban. But, it is also true that an Aesop store provided some inspiration. Each time that I am travelling, and specifically when I’m arriving in an unknown city, the first thing that I’m looking for is where the Aesop stores are. In Paris, I am fascinated by the Aesop Sentier store, which uses an alliance of wood, metal and stone. I found this very interesting and inspiring when exploring the dry down of Aurner—the meeting of wood, metal and stone. Nonetheless, I do believe Aurner is an Aesop fragrance that everyone can fall in love with.
Aurner is a very complex fragrance with multiple facets that one can grasp and be drawn to. Whether it’s the familiar unorthodox aroma for existing, loyal Aesop customers that recognise the aromatic herbaceous and woody signature aroma, or new customers exploring Aesop’s distinction for the very first time discovering an aroma of softness, that is perhaps more ethereal, luminous and transparent. What’s unique about this fragrance is that it holds power and boldness while still seeming more transparent than Aesop’s wider offering. As with all Aesop fragrances it is genderless and would resonate throughout cultures across the globe. •
Aurner Eau de Parfum is now available in all Aesop Philippines stores and online for PHP 9,400 (50ml bottle). The limited-edition Aurner ear cuff by Patcharavipa is available in select global stores, priced at PHP 9,400. Visit aesopskincare.ph for more information.
