LA CUVÉE SECRÈTE
La Cuvée Secrète is adorned with upcycled Haute Couture
For Guerlain, beyond perfumery, beauty has always expressed itself in every field of creation.
This is why the House’s fragrances have reinvented themselves over the years with EXCEPTIONAL PIECES arising from innovative, unexpected artistic collaborations that showcase the most cutting-edge luxury craftsmanship. In 2021, it is the Bee Bottle that the young couturier Kévin Germanier adorns with an ornament as radiant as it is radically modern, both by its futuristic beauty and its eco-responsible creative process. In his hands, the iconic one-litre Bee Bottle dresses up in a colourful, sparkling gown made of upcycled Swarovski crystals, imagined like an Haute Couture piece, for a very limited and numbered edition. A spectacular match between Guerlain’s heritage, contemporary luxury and eco-responsible upcycling, that confirms the House’s commitment both to the arts and to sustainable development.
IN THE NAME OF BEAUTY, GUERLAIN IS COMMITTED TO THE PRESERVATION OF NATURE
Ever since it was founded in 1828, the history of Guerlain has been closely connected with the artists and artisans it has invited to fashion its most beautiful creations. A quest for beauty nurtured by nature, an endless source of inspiration that is always at the heart of Guerlain’s concerns.
An essential messenger and custodian of life on Earth, Guerlain’s emblematic Bee is a thread, a constant presence on our iconic bottle that celebrates its crucial role as a pollinator, and as an essential source of harmony and balance for our world. Today’s new collaboration is in keeping with Guerlain’s values.
In the name of beauty, Guerlain is committed to a more beautiful and responsible world. We act for biodiversity, sustainable innovation, climate, and solidarity.
KÉVIN GERMANIER, THE INVENTOR OF ECO-RESPONSIBLE COUTURE STYLE
There is fast fashion. And then, there is its glamorous opposite: Kévin Germanier’s “fast couture”. He calls it fast, because he has invented cutting-edge techniques to create his luxury pieces more swiftly. And couture because his lavish pieces are all one-of-a-kind…
There is fast fashion. And then, there is its glamorous opposite: Kévin Germanier’s “fast couture”. He calls it fast, because he has invented cutting-edge techniques to create his luxury pieces more swiftly. And couture because his lavish pieces are all one-of-a-kind… aAn ultra-covetable upcycled fashion whose colourful, futuristic beauty breaks with the stereotypes usually associated with eco-responsible designs. In line with its commitment to young creators and sustainable development, Guerlain was naturally drawn to the couturier, whose meteoric rise took the fashion world by storm.
A graduate of Central Saint Martins in London, Kévin Germanier has won several prizes, including the Redress Design Award in 2015. He was also a finalist for the LVMH Award in 2019. In 2020, Forbes featured him in its “30 under 30” list in the Europe –Arts & Culture category. In 2018, he founded his eponymous brand, renowned for its dazzling dresses – fireworks of pearls, sequins, and crystals made from upcycled fabrics and materials. His designs have been embraced by women who are aware of today’s issues and try to improve the future by supporting responsible luxury, including such stars as Björk, Taylor Swift, or Lady Gaga…
The signature of the young Swiss designer is the upcycling of textile waste slated for destruction, of glass pearls that are buried because they cannot be burned… A novel process that feeds his inspiration and allows him to reinvent forgotten treasures, since his findings are the starting point for his designs.
Over the years, Kévin Germanier has invented methods that allow him to work with the same exacting standards, respect for the garment and quality as more traditional couture houses. For instance, he has devised a cutting-edge technique for embroidering silicon that gives a new, even more sparkling life to upcycled Swarovski crystals from discontinued collections. Thanks to this unique process, which took years to perfect, he can produce an embroidered dress in less than 24 hours (hence the term “fast couture”).
It is this revolutionary embroidery technique that Kévin Germanier has used for Guerlain to create the resplendent finery of the Bee Bottle produced by Pochet du Courval, the historic glassmaker of the House.
THE GLITTERING METAMORPHOSIS OF THE ICONIC BEE BOTTLE
In 1853, Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain dedicated his new Eau de Cologne to the young Empress Eugénie. For the occasion, the glassmaker Pochet du Courval decorated the bottle with the imperial bee, and enhanced it with graceful garlands, like an evening gown. Today, the iconic Bee Bottle pays tribute to its muse, known as “The Empress of Fashion” for her elegance. Just as Eugénie in her day supported the nascent Parisian Haute Couture, Guerlain has partnered with Kévin Germanier, a figurehead of a new generation of fashion designers committed to the ethical issues and stakes of tomorrow.
With this collaboration, both houses demonstrate their commitment to eco-responsibility, creating a common artwork that expresses Guerlain’s vision for the future.
A gown dripping with Swarovski crystals in a gradient of vibrant colours – raspberry pink, powder pink, lavender and green: this is the mythical Bee Bottle’s ultra-modern, Haute Couture metamorphosis.
Entirely hand-crafted, each piece requires three hours to produce. A meticulous operation that starts with cleaning each of bottle and preparing it to receive its crystal gown. It is this first phase that allow the Swarovski crystals to adhere to the glass.
nvented by Kévin Germanier when he was still a student, this highly technical process is complicated by the fact that the designer must create the illusion of a very spontaneous colour gradient. A meeting of past and future, from the cutting-edge techniques that herald the future of Haute Couture to the unique craftsmanship preserved by the House… Once the Bee Bottles are dressed up in their glittering gowns, they are entrusted to the famous “Dames de Table” of the Guerlain Ateliers who keep the heritage of Haute Perfumery alive.
The Dames de Table wind a silk thread around the collar, fasten it with a golden seal, finished with a “barbiche”. A secular technique passed on from one generation to the next at Guerlain, this “barbichage” turns the silk threads into precious ornaments. Five minutes are required to craft a perfect barbiche. Each bottle is then placed in its made-tomeasure box in embossed white paper.
LA CUVÉE SECRÈTE, A CRYSTALLINE EAU DE COLOGNE
The Bee Bottle holds La Cuvée Secrète. The fragrance wasn’t chosen by chance, since it echoes Kévin Germanier’s approach.
Indeed, La Cuvée Secrète is inspired by the very first ecoresponsible process of perfumery: the ancestral tradition of the “fonds de cuves”. For centuries, the method has allowed perfumers to use up the beautiful essences that compose the House’s perfumes down to the very last drop, anticipating the very concept of upcycling! After maceration, fragrances leave their olfactory imprint in the vats that contained them. The “fonds de cuves” are obtained by rinsing out these vats with alcohol, then combining the fragrant liquids to create a new scent. A ritual that is dear to Guerlain, and whose secret has been passed on from one generation to the next, and from perfumer to perfumer. A tradition that only a House with a rich history of nearly two centuries can afford… An Eau de Cologne as fresh and sparkling as the gown that dresses the Bee Bottle, enhanced by noble ingredients especially selected by the House, La Cuvée Secrète matches the joyful radiance of a Cologne with the unique, powerful sillage of a perfume.
Bergamot, a signature of Guerlain perfumers for the past two hundred years, shimmers with hesperidic, floral, subtly peppery facets. The most refined of citrus fruits is made it even more luminous by bright lemon and sweet orange. Drawn for the distillation of the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange tree, petitgrain wraps this citrusy palette with suave floral, green, and woody facets. Its aromatic tones introduce the third iconic note showcased by the fragrance: a beautiful, clean, fresh lavender whose sunny scent becomes powderier over the hours.
An elegant fragrance for him or for her, this sparkling scented ornament offers a unique freshness and a deliciously bracing sensation.