Caractère
Maison Godet : Instinctive Scents
As they often share a similar constellation of values, leading houses can sometimes echo one another. With this in mind, it was almost natural for Maison Godet and the Hôtel Le Pigonnet to put their noses together and create a shared fragrance, Folie d'Aix.
It was in 1901, after studying the art of perfumery in Grasse, that Julien-Joseph Godet, breathed life into what would later become the combination of his three passions : women, flowers, and art. This entirely avant-garde figure saw perfume as a nothing short of artistic creation, and carved out a niche for himself among artists driven by the same desire to transcend conventional boundaries.
A perfect illustration of this was his friendship with Pierre Bonnard, the "Japanese Nabi."
Godet created Fleurs de Reine in 1908 for the painter's wife, before drawing on local violet flowers to craft Folie Bleue, the house icon worn by Henri Matisse's muse.
Welcome to Maison Godet, an olfactory testament to the French Riviera of the Roaring Twenties, buzzing with the artistic fervor of its iconic sites such as La Colombe d'Or in Saint-Paul-de-Vence.
A Sleeping Beauty Awakens
Sonia Godet, great-granddaughter of Julien-Joseph Godet, decides to continue this powerful yet intangible dream by relaunching the family business in 2016. Sonia did not know much about this epic story, but her grandfather - the founder's son - had given her the only thing that really counted: a passion for perfumery. After working for some of the world's leading perfume houses, including Cartier in New-York, she returned to the family home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence and plunged into the archives. With that, Sonia accepted the challenge of awakening this sleeping beauty. Thanks to her talent and daring, in juste one year Maison Godet been restored to its status as an iconic perfumer, reaching out to its original loyal clientele while continuing the legend with new scents such as Mademoiselle.
"It was a wild time ! Alongside the fragrances we sold from our store, we were soon able to choose any other projects we wanted to pursue.
I like to create scents for places that speak to me, that have a soul. These things have to be instinctive."
Echoing Narratives
It is hardly surprising to find the magic of Maison Godet in the olfactory signature of Le Pigonnet, a centuryold Aix institution that has been in the same family for generations.
The new fragrance, christened Folie d’Aix, opens with the scents of the hotel’s wonderful garden. Notes of lilac and rose transport you there on a fine spring morning, and are quickly joined by hints of undergrowth and greenery. “We added essences of olive bark and leaves, paying tribute to the trees that the owners planted in the gardens for the birth of each of their children.” The perfume concludes with a memory suddenly plucked from a happy vacation, the rich aromas of a path lined with pine needles. “This is a nod to the great umbrella pine standing at the entrance to Le Pigonnet.”
In short, the fragrance celebrates the old-fashioned charm of Provence, offering an invitation to walk barefoot on the cool terracotta of a local country house, across the sun-drenched stones of a terrace.
Just like her greatgrandfather, Sonia Godet’s work is multifaceted. The fragrance is also a poem, one whose verses are whispered in shower gels, body lotions, shampoos, and massage oils used at the hotel. This is an authentic creative world, the kind that Chagall and Cézanne could have painted in unison.
Published on 27/08/2024
