In 2021, fragrance has a new function: “It should act as a bubble of pleasure around you,” she says. “We’re living in an unusual time,” she continues.

The perfume, named after a rare, supple calf leather (“Artisans often say, ‘Barénia, it gives you back the caress,’” Nagel says), wasn’t an officially assigned project.

For a typical Hermès fragrance, Nagel starts with an idea from the fashion house. Oud Alezan, however, she created for herself. She didn’t even think to bottle it until she wore the scent to a ...

It could be a chance encounter, a meal at a restaurant, or a story from the history of the house they are creating a fragrance for. But the story has to feel authentic for the perfume to be authentic.

It took over 100 variations to get the fragrance just right. “Hermès gives a lot of time to its creators, which allowed me to delve into the house of Hermès and to capture its spirit,” Nagel ...

A long time collaborator of Hermès fragrances and highly beloved “nose” Christine Nagel is now on stage, as she creates the luxury brand’s latest perfume, Galop d’ Hermès, solo, which ...

Storied French fashion house Hermès began as a purveyor of equestrian accouterments. Perhaps then it makes perfect sense that to celebrate her first fragrance with the iconic brand, Galop d ...

Christine Nagel, Hermès’ in-house perfumer, is a synesthete and a storyteller. I met her for the first time in person earlier this year (2024) to discuss ‘Oud Alezan’, a warm and heady scent inspired ...