What Does the Sun Smell Like?
Louis Vuitton unveils the LVers fragrance.
In a synesthetic endeavor to transform sunlight into a scent, Pharrell Williams launches his first men’s fragrance as Louis Vuitton’s creative director. He collaborates with the renowned master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, one of the most esteemed noses in the industry. Crafted in the Maison’s studios in Grasse, the perfumer’s promised land where luxurious scents fill the air, the new LVers fragrance aims to capture the essence, regenerative power, and warm sensation of sunlight.
As Jacques Cavallier Belletrud explains, “The theme of sunlight that illuminated Pharrell’s debut show at Pont Neuf in June 2023 inspired us to translate photosynthesis into a scent. It may sound abstract, but if you consider life, photosynthesis is the starting point of everything.” This process, as we all know, requires sunlight to occur. Thus, LVers is a product “born from the philosophy of sunlight as a metaphor for love, a source of life and motivation through human experiences,” and according to Pharrell Williams, it reflects the question: what will you do when the sun shines on your skin?
Yes, the story is beautiful. But what about the fragrance itself? It will smell just as lovely with notes of galbanum, cedarwood oil, sandalwood, ginger, and bergamot. All these ingredients have roots in ancient cultural practices related to physical and spiritual healing, dating back to ancient Egypt.