Byredo's 1996 perfume was inspired by Dutch photography duo Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin's photograph “Kirsten 1996, ” which depicts an angelic child, her face seemingly dusted with white powder, her eyes closed and lips lacquered like a geisha's. 1996 is its olfactory counterpart: gentle and dreamy, with an undertow of dark erotics.
1996 bursts forth with a cloud of amber-scented iris, as powdery-soft and diffuse as the incandescent photograph itself. A leather accord dosed with patchouli and black pepper gives its ethereal, confectionary opening some heft and drama. Inez & Vinoodh move freely between both the fashion and art worlds and are known for their hyper-real and digitally retouched photos. They put a sheen of the otherworldly onto their images, and there is something both earthy — the leather, patchouli and rootiness of iris — and elusive and dreamy about 1996, as if an added layer of fairy dust were sprinkled onto its more legible notes.
Byredo founder Ben Gorham has said that 1996 is “an olfactory snapshot not only of the image but of our emotional response to it.” Enigmatic and romantic, 1996 will be sure to elicit perfume lust and emotion.
Juniper berries, black pepper, violet, leather accord, orris, patchouli, black amber, vanilla
Perfume rating 3.96 out of 5 on Fragrantica