On the 19th June 2024, JOUISSANCE PARFUMS came to life. We hosted over a hundred guests in the Nash & Brandon rooms at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, where, with the help of a roster of talented collaborators, we built a JOUISSANCE world to delight every sense.
When we imagined our launch party, we pictured an imaginary writer of the 20th century, hosting a salon in the space where her domestic and creative lives merge. A happening, where every detail, from the staging to the food and the evening's entertainment, were a work of art in themselves.
Each set, designed for the Regency space by Maya Angeli, embodied one of our debut fragrances, with little hints at the inspirations behind them hidden in the mise en scène. For La Bague D'O, the dressing table symbolised a feminine domain for beauty and adornment with a steely edge and plenty of space for keeping secrets. The bed, the realm of Les Cahiers Secrets, is where a woman writes her diary, "in pencil so as not to stain the sheets". The clean, midcentury study nodded to the cerebral art critic and erotic memoirist who inspired En Plein Air.
The crowning glory, flowers by Christie Leigh, nodded to notes in the Jouissance fragrances.
The party menu was created by the brilliant Jago Rackham aka Ecstacy Cookbook. Each dish and drink contained a note from one of the debut Jouissance fragrances, with a Jouissance trifle for dessert. Not a crumb was left.
Ting Yu Gao inhabited the Les Cahiers Secrets space, captivating the crowd with a reading from Anaïs Nin's fragrance-filled erotic story 'Linda'. Finally Xiaoqiao closed the party with an otherworldly harp set from her silk and flower stage.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make our launch a success.
Venue: The Institue of Contemporary Arts
Set Design: Maya Angeli
Menu: Ecstasy Cookbook
Flowers: Christie Leigh
Performances: Ting Yu Gao and Xiaoqiao
Sponsors: MarGin London and Shima Drinks
Assistance: Kerry LaPrince and Gracie Potts
"It was while writing a Diary that I discovered how to capture living moments," Anaïs Nin wrote. "In the Diary I only wrote of what interested me genuinely, what I felt most strongly at the moment, and I found this fervour, this enthusiasm produced a vividness which often withered in the formal work. Improvisation, free association, obedience to mood, impulse, brought forth countless images, portraits, descriptions, impressionistic sketches, symphonic experiments, from which I could dip at any time for material."
In tribute to Anaïs Nin, one of our foremost inspirations for Jouissance, our DIARY captures our most treasured moments, our obsessions and preoccupations, our research and the lessons we learn, and the work of our cherished friends and collaborators.
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