Élisabeth de Feydeau, Doctor of History, uncovers the story behind this marvelous creation. At the request of Sophie Delafontaine, Artistic Director of Longchamp, she delved into the Maison's past to come up with a candle capturing Longchamp's essence. An expert who has worked with some of the world's leading perfume houses, known as a "hunter of stories and scents", Élisabeth de Feydeau specializes in content creation as well as olfactory and cultural development. She has written a number of books on the history of perfume—translated into several languages—and has curated exhibitions dedicated to perfume in France and abroad.
Maison Longchamp began at Au Sultan, a tobacco shop located on one of the grand boulevards in Paris, where scents of sun-warmed tobacco mingled with leather-covered pipes that, at the time of the liberation of France, attracted collectors, allied soldiers... and even Elvis Presley. Fueled by his intuition and intrepid nature, Jean Cassegrain, the founder of Longchamp, transformed this story into a vision: to make leather a canvas for innovation. In 1948, Maison Longchamp was born; a few years later, Jean Gabin lit his Longchamp pipe in the film Honor Among Thieves, immortalizing a now-iconic appearance.
Élisabeth de Feydeau drew on this heritage to create the Au Sultan candle.
Her olfactory creation tells the story of this great French Maison's early days, with honey-tinged tobacco notes giving way to a mimosa-lit floral heart, before settling into hints of leather, balms and amber that evoke Longchamp's first workshops: the warmth of the leather, the precision and refinement of the craft, and the soul of Paris itself. Covered in plant-based leather, the case is reminiscent of Longchamp's earliest pipes: a marvel in which each tone and patina reflect the passing of time and the hands that crafted it.
