La Religieuse

Yet from this perfume, steeped in the mysteries of the poet-perfumer's mystical clairvoyance, emerges the symbol of a purity that is entirely feminine, born of the pain of isolation. Divine whiteness and shadowy darkness merge to give birth to La Religieuse.

Between good and evil, white and black, Lutens's La Religieuse hesitates and disrupts...

For Serge Lutens, creating a perfume happens like a work of art, a photograph or a novel: an initial memory, a past pain, then finally the flash of a sign that opens up every possible field.

For La Religieuse, Serge Lutens drew on his fertile and deliberate isolation of today, in the shadow of his beloved riad in Marrakech, to trace back to his childhood exclusion, submissive and shaped by the pain of not having been wanted. Thus La Religieuse follows the path of a pure and floral redemption while kneeling before dense, almost cursed animalic notes.

The visual of La Religieuse, with its wimple set upon the bottle, plays on this striking contrast unfolding within a dark frame. Aesthetic and pure, the photograph of La Religieuse is not mere advertising; like the perfume, it tells a story. That of the artist Serge Lutens. And that of femininity as well. Of that dual femininity marked by enveloping angelism and unloving cruelty.

For me, she [La Religieuse] embodies the sensual purity of femininity. The one that has obsessed me forever. A frozen woman who burns your fingers. Good and evil at once. Like snow. White, untouched, yet one wants to trample it. Serge Lutens on La Religieuse.

The purity of violet struggles against the “forbidden” sensuality of the animalic note

Of this Religieuse who hides beneath the troubled personality of her creator Serge Lutens, one only glimpses the violet gown through her bottle, matching those of this magnificent Lutens fragrance collection. The vivid violet of La Religieuse's juice once again reflects a Serge Lutens who is in love, even passionate, with the color of violet and jasmine, to the point of decorating the walls of his beloved boutique at the Palais Royal with it.

As for the architecture of La Religieuse, it is at once transparent and dark. The pure and airy jasmine top notes give no hint of the wild heart to come. Then the brutal animalic nature of civet offers its violent, musky scents like a claw sunk into the gentle flower. Finally, good and evil ultimately come to terms in the deep sillage, subtly blending powdery white musks with mysterious incense.

The world of La Religieuse is austere, contrasted between white and black, evil and good, powdery floral snow and harsh blackened dust. The film created by the artist pays tribute to this ultimate duality. Serge Lutens's world merges with that of this Religieuse. Did he not say, La Religieuse is me?