Un Jardin à Cythère by Hermès

One of the most popular collections from Hermès, Les Jardins, has been expanded with a new unisex fragrance, Un Jardin à Cythère. Perfumer Christine Nagel worked on this aromatic woody composition, dedicated to the sparsely inhabited island of Kythira in Greece, which has inspired artists for decades. We will tell you about this highly anticipated new release and remind the history of the bestselling collection.

The composition of the fragrance captures the atmosphere of the island: dry grass, olive tree, and pistachios blend with the aquatic freshness of the sea breeze. The eau de toilette created by Nagel represents a natural, untouched garden where green and floral tones coexist with atypical nutty and vegetal notes for such a profile. Kythira is located in the Ionian Sea, southeast of the Peloponnese peninsula. Known for its stunning beaches, traditional villages, and rich history, it is also renowned for its scenic hiking trails and natural beauty.

The bottle, designed by Fred Rawyler, is inspired by the lines of lanterns on horse-drawn carriages of the past. The luminous graduated yellow glass echoes the sunny fragrance. On the box, artist Elias Kafouros paints a colourful landscape of his homeland: golden grasses, green olive trees, fresh pink pistachios, and in the background, the azure sea. The Jardins collection brings together the places that inspired the perfumers and the minimalist aesthetic of the fashion house. The seven compositions recreate the image of a garden: an imaginary one — Chinese, Mediterranean, set along the banks of the Nile and the shores of the Arabian Sea, and a real one — on the island of Giudecca in Venice and on the rooftop of the Hermès office at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris.

Jean-Claude Ellena took the helm of the Hermès perfume line in the early 2000s, and remained the brand's head perfumer until his departure in 2016. During his tenure, he released the first five fragrances in the Un Jardin Hermès series. A great admirer of Edmond Roudnitska's work, who created the brand's first signature unisex fragrance, Eau d'Hermès, in the 1950s, Ellena became known for his minimalist approach. He enjoys working with a single main ingredient around which the composition is built. The fragrance Un Jardin en Méditerranée, released in 2003, paints an imaginary picture of a Mediterranean garden, where under the scorching sun, the scents of fig, cypress, invigorating notes of lemon, mandarin, and juniper unfold, and where a gentle breeze rustles through the leaves of oleander and bergamot is felt.

The fragrance Un Jardin Sur Le Nil was born in 2005. Jean-Claude Ellena turned to the image of an Egyptian garden on the banks of the Nile. The composition turned out drier and stricter than its predecessor. It opens with a blend of grapefruit, green mango, carrot, and tomato. In the heart, sweet and slightly acidic notes of orange, hyacinth, peony, reed, and lotus can be detected. In the drydown, hints of iris, cinnamon, amber, musk, and frankincense are felt.

In 2008, the spicy Un Jardin Après La Mousson was introduced. It captures the sensations after a thunderstorm that once caught the perfumer in the Indian state of Kerala. The fragrant memory consists of fresh grated ginger, tangy drops of lime, and sweet lily.

The fruity-floral Un Jardin Sur Le Toit was released in 2011 and was dedicated to all the craftsmen of the brand who embrace a creative approach to their craft and are open to new experiences. Seeking inspiration, Jean-Claude Ellena looked into his favourite garden, located on the rooftop of the Hermès office at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris. The bottle was designed by Philippe Dumas, the grandson of one of the owners of the company, Charles-Émile Hermès.

The fifth fragrance, Le Jardin de Monsieur Li, was released in 2015 and served as an ode to Chinese gardens. "I remembered the smell of ponds, the scent of jasmine, wet stones, plum trees, kumquats, and giant bamboo, "Jean-Claude Ellena explains. "Everything was there, even the carp in the pond that lived for a hundred years without hurrying. The prickly scent of Sichuan pepper bushes resembled roses, and their leaves smelled like lemon. All that remained was to create this new garden that would encompass everything else."

The sixth fragrance, Un Jardin Sur La Lagune, released in 2019, was created by Christine Nagel, who succeeded Ellena. One day, she read about Giardino Eden, a garden on the island of Giudecca in Venice. The perfumer recreated the olfactory landscape in the composition, where woody notes of cedar, sandalwood, and moss coexist with accords of pittosporum, white lily, magnolia, and sea salt.