Le Male: The first men's fragrance from the house Jean Paul Gaultier Jean-Paul Gaultier has never hesitated to create offbeat and highly original haute couture collections, according to his whims and upcoming trends.
How could one imagine that Jean-Paul Gaultier would create fragrances that were not in his image? Exuberant yet elegant, innovative yet retro, the Jean-Paul Gaultier fragrances managed to offer, in a single bottle, Classique, the entire universe of the French designer. Only two years after the release of Classique, in 1995, Jean-Paul Gaultier would offer men the muscular and innovative sailor, Le Mâle. Designed by Francis Kurkdjian, Le Mâle would boldly combine Jean-Paul Gaultier's passion for marrying eras.
Le Mâle, Jean-Paul Gaultier's very first men's fragrance and Francis Kurkdjian's first great success
For Jean-Paul Gaultier as for Francis Kurkdjian, Le Mâle represents the beginning of a new adventure. Of course, for the great designer, the step had already been taken with his beautiful and highly original Classique, composed by Jacques Cavallier in 1993. The fragrance, designed as an ode to the scents of the old powders of the designer's grandmother combined with ultramodern accords, had won hearts as soon as it was released, immediately elevating the house of Jean-Paul Gaultier to the rank of a perfume house.
But Jean-Paul Gaultier had never yet had the idea of composing a fragrance for men, especially since men were calling for the perfumed alter ego of that so wonderful Classique. It was to the very young perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, barely out of his training, that the master's expectations were entrusted. The brief for what would become Le Mâle was concise: a few pages presenting the designer's universe and his olfactory memories linked to childhood. Just as the corsetmaker had inspired Le Classique, a barbershop now took shape, according to Francis Kurkdjian for Marie-France.
Yet despite this brief instruction, the very young perfumer perfectly blended the barbershop reminiscences that the designer wanted with fresh, invigorating, and also floral accords, entirely innovative for a men's fragrance. Le Mâle thus very quickly achieved the same success as Classique, and so brought Francis Kurkdjian into the ranks of great perfumers and established Jean-Paul Gaultier as a specialist in original and trend-setting fragrances.
Between retro barbershop scents and floral modernities, Le Mâle surprises and captivates…
Francis Kurkdjian, recounting to Marie-France the remarkable story of the creation of Le Mâle, states: at the top, there was this note: “≠ fashion fragrance”. This confirmed my choice: simple, authentic, and sincere accords. So I added touches of vetiver, amber, and grapefruit.
Le Mâle would thus be a daring blend of top-quality raw materials, somewhat aromatic and classic, such as the top notes of lavender, grapefruit, and bergamot, but heightened by sweet and exotic heart notes of neroli flower, cinnamon, and cumin. As for the depths of Le Mâle, they too would be relatively classic in their woody aspects of vetiver, sandalwood, and cedar, but punctuated by modern and innovative gourmand touches of vanilla and tonka bean.