Sixty years ago, Christian Dior penned his autobiography at his imposing residence that he once described as “the home where perhaps I will one day forget Christian Dior, couturier, and become the neglected private individual again”.
Le Chateau La Colle Noire in Pays de Fayence, 18km from Grasse.
Overlooking the Montauroux plain in Pays de Fayence, Le Chateau La Colle Noire gets its name from its location, which faces a hill planted with dark dense trees. It was Dior’s final haven of peace.
After the French fashion legend passed away in 1957, the property was sold and resold until 2013 when Dior Maison de Parfums acquired and preserved the 19th century house and its grounds which inspired a new eponymous fragrance that launched this month.
“I wanted to pay tribute to a place that is important, not only to the house of Dior, but also to me personally, as the Pays de Fayence is a region I know very well,” said perfumer Francois Demachy, a native of Grasse.
In the heart of the Grasse region, set between lakes and mountains, the Pays de Fayence provides a microclimate with mild winters alternating with hot humid summers, that, along with its calcareous-clay soil, lend optimal flower cultivation that brings out the best of fragrant qualities.
Christian Dior in the Chateau de La Colle Noire Gardens circa 1956.
“It is a micro-valley where the mistral blows, and is either very hot, or very cold. The May Rose is the fruit of all this. The Grasse Rose is unique, piquant and potent. It is never insipid; it expresses all the raw and radiant beauty of this region,” said Demachy.
Dior fragrances are now created at his lab at the Domaine des Fontaines Parfumees in Grasse.
Demachy designed La Colle Noire as a spicy, woody perfume built around the May rose sourced from two plantations, who reserve their harvest in May for the house of Dior. The handpicked flowers are immediately sent off to be transformed into “absolutes” and then “concretes” for the perfume-making.
May rose bushes have been replanted as part of the Chateau La Colle Noire’s three-year restoration since 2013.
Back in 1951, after buying the more-than 50 hectares of land, Christian Dior renovated the neglected castle and its vast plot of land, which served as an agricultural domain for planting thousands of trees, May rose, Jasminum grandiflorum and other fragrant flowers as well as vines.
The nature-loving couturier transformed it into a fragrant floral “Eden” as he worked with gardeners in a similar way to how he closely worked with his seamstresses at Avenue Montaigne in Paris.
The scent of the May rose particularly appealed to Dior as it transported him back to the rose garden of his childhood home, Les Rhumbs, in Granville, Normandy.
Demachy previously created Granville for La Collection Privee Christian Dior, a range of authentic perfumes containing exceptional raw materials. His interpretation was a fresh and invigorating fragrance, as the Les Rhumbs villa, which overlooked cliffs, was surrounded by pine trees.
The latest addition to the La Collection Privee revolves around an intense Rosa centifolia absolute. The slightly fruity opening is followed by the May rose clothed in warm notes heightened by a spicy touch of Madagascan clove essence, whereas woody notes of gaiac and sandalwood give the finishing touch to La Colle Noire.
Its floral notes are complemented by the sensual Elixir Precieux Musc, one of the four concentrated perfumed oils featured in this range of luxurious fragrances.
Retailed exclusively at the Dior counter at Paragon department store, La Colle Noire pays tribute to the couturier’s last home where he finished writing his autobiography, Dior By Dior (1956) but didn’t live to see the completed renovations.
However, the castle’s magnificence has been revived, with its timely reopening next month when pretty pink May roses are in full bloom.
The spicy, woody perfume built around an intense Rosa centifolia absolute.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.