At the centre of the Dior perfume empire is Miss
Dior, the very first fragrance created by the house and
commissioned by Christian Dior himself. His sister
Catherine was the inspiration, a heroine of the French
Resistance of WWII, she survived a year exiled in
Germany before returning to France when the war
ended, settling in the South, near Château de La Colle
Noire. It was with her encouragement that Dior left his
job as a dressmaker in Paris to pursue his namesake
couture line, and with it he wanted a fragrance.
“Christian Dior launched Miss Dior at the same
time that he launched his haute couture because
he very much believed in the
perfume,” says master perfumer
for the brand, François Demachy.
“He was both a perfumer and
a designer, so for me, Miss Dior
is significant as it symbolises
how important perfume is to the
Dior house.”
While his New Look turned
heads and caught the attention of
royalty and Parisian socialites, the
first juice of Miss Dior was equally
disruptive. “The style was very
new for the time it launched — it
was the first green chypre, [a
classification of fragrances that
feature] a blend of bergamot,
florals, oakmoss and patchouli,”
explains Demachy. “It is very
difficult to make a chypre with
a green effect but Miss Dior was successful. And after,
many, many perfumes followed the trend.”
The avant-garde green note is galbanum, a
herbaceous Persian plant, which is supported by
notes characteristic of a chypre. The floral bouquet
included neroli, jasmine and yes, the beloved May
rose. That scent is still available (Miss Dior Eau de
Toilette Originale), but Demachy has re-imagined
Miss Dior, bringing the flagship scent into the present
while maintaining its signature structure. “It’s always
interesting to revisit the original because each time
I discover something new,” he says. “But it’s important
to re-smell because I have to work within the chypre
frame.” Demachy’s contemporary eau de parfum is
a celebration of the May rose.
Not far from the small garden of La Colle Noire lies
Le Domaine De Manon, a family
owned biodynamic farm that
produces all the May roses for
Dior’s fragrances. It’s a partnership
Demachy fostered over a decade
ago, committing to sourcing only
the best of the best raw materials.
Nestled between the sea and the
mountains, the climate and soil of
Grasse create ideal conditions to
grow the rose, which is harvested
by hand each morning when it
blooms for a fleeting two weeks
during May.
The freshly harvested blossoms
are immediately taken to a local
factory and distilled into an absolute
or essence — highly concentrated
raw materials which Demachy uses
to create Miss Dior. A successful
harvest is incredibly important — 300,000 roses are
needed to produce one kilo of rose absolute. The final
stop is Les Fontaines Parfumées, the small lab where
Demachy works. “There’s some kind of magic in the air
at Les Fontaines. The sun felt warmer and the flowers
smelt twice as potent,” recalls Sarah Ellen. “What took
me by surprise is just how intricate the entire process is,
from hand-picking each rose, one by one, to extracting
the essences at the lab; each step is just as important
as the next,” she says.
It’s no surprise then that Christian Dior saw
fragrance as the perfect complement to his couture
line. Miss Dior was, and remains, a reflection of the
optimism and femininity of Dior’s New Look, and
today, “I hope women feel proud, sophisticated and
sexy when they wear Miss Dior,” says Demachy. E“The SUN
FELT WARMER
and THE
FLOWERS
SMELT TWICE
as POTENT”Each bloom in Miss Dior
is delicately hand-pickedMiss Dior EDP,
$240 for 100ml, DIOR,
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