Un Jardin sur le Toit: Back to Hermès's roots After taking us traveling to distant lands with Un Jardin en Méditerranée, Un Jardin sur le Nil, or Un Jardin après la Mousson, Jean-Claude Ellena and Hermès return to Paris.
Released in 2011, Un Jardin sur le Toit evokes a green-floral fragrance and tells the story of a secret garden, nestled on a rooftop in the heart of the capital, but not just any rooftop—on that of 24, Faubourg St Honoré, the headquarters of the house of Hermès. There is no doubt that Un Jardin sur le Toit is a fragrance filled with emotions, feelings and beautiful sensations. At once floral and fruity, Jean-Claude Ellena's composition also carries a significant green dimension.
Jean-Claude Ellena tells emotions from elsewhere with Un Jardin sur le Toit
Jean-Claude Ellena was born in Grasse, the son of a perfumer. All the conditions were in place, so to speak, for him to become a great perfumer. After joining the Givaudan school in Switzerland, Jean-Claude Ellena achieved his first major success at just 28 years old. First by Van Cleef & Arpels propelled him directly into the spotlight. Jean-Claude Ellena is regarded as a brilliant and discreet perfumer. He enjoys creating clean, airy compositions. He states with pride that today he creates with fewer than 200 raw materials, when fragrances commonly contain 1,000 or 1,500, and dares to admit that he would like his fragrances not to be worn, because he sees them as artistic works. In 2004, Jean-Claude Ellena became the exclusive nose of the house of Hermès and went on to create one success after another, such as Terre d'Hermès, L'Ambre des Merveilles, and Kelly Calèche. Today, Jean-Claude Ellena has retired, and it is the no less talented Christine Nagel who has succeeded him. On this subject, the house of Hermès explains that, together with Pierre-Alexis Dumas, Hermès's artistic director, they share the conviction that Christine Nagel will bring her personality and talent to writing new pages for the house's craft at Hermès.
A bucolic Hermès garden filled with fragrant light
Un Jardin sur le Toit is part of the “des Jardins” collection and follows Un Jardin en Méditerranée (2003), Un Jardin sur le Nil (2005), and Un Jardin après la Mousson (2008). According to Jean-Claude Ellena, Un Jardin sur le Toit is a festive garden, a garden that does exactly as it pleases, showered with light. Jean-Claude Ellena's small secret garden is thus perched atop 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré—a whole symbol in itself. Here, everything seems different and magical, like a suspended moment. Un Jardin sur le Toit opens with notes of cut grass paired with the fruity tonalities of apple and pear. The heart is intensely floral, thanks to the presence of magnolia and rose. Magnolia is an evergreen tree native to East Asia and North America. Its leaves are dark green and its petals cream or white in color. In perfumery, the Magnolia Grandiflora variety is generally used. Magnolia offers floral tonalities, but delicate and soft ones, with vanilla, even lemony, accents. Finally, the base reveals earthy accents, combining oakmoss and damp earth. The whole is contained within the brand's signature bottle, dressed for the occasion in a pale green hue.