Sunday Morning Grasse, France Fragonard Perfume Class

Grasse is the most fragrant town on the Riviera, where more than three-quarters of the world’s essences are produced from flora including violets, daffodils, wild lavender, and jasmine. Surrounded by jasmine and roses, it has been the capital of the perfume industry since the days of the Renaissance.

Enjoying a Fragonard perfume making class has been one of the most popular summer activities for our clients sojourning in the French Riviera. With exclusive permission, we are able to arrange classes for young ladies and their mothers, normally children are not permitted in a class. An unforgettable learning experience in the world of perfume making awaits you. Discover how a perfumer or a “nose “masters the art of fragrance creation while learning about the history of the perfume.

Learn which raw materials are used and how they are extracted. By the end of the workshop and with the help of one of the master perfumers, you will be able to compose your own eau de Toilette and customize it with aromatic notes, citrus family and orange blossom. Over 200 different petals and plant fragments can be combined to create one perfume.

The perfume capital of the world since the 17th century; Fragonard perfumery has carried on its traditions for four generations. Maison de Fragonard is nestled in the countryside along the Côte d’Azur, in the heart of the Old Town of Grasse. A small museum displays an extraordinary private collection of hundreds of ornate perfume bottles, presentation boxes, and perfume making equipment dating back to ancient times.

Fragonard also has a Provençal costume and jewelry museum nearby in the former residence of the Marchioness of Cabris. The rooms of this noble, time-weathered house that was a Tribunal during the Revolution now hold a private collection of 18th- and 19th-century Provencal costume and jewelry gathered together by Hélène Costa. Simple dresses, underskirts of piqué Indiana cloth and delicate lacework recount the lives of Provençal women – peasants, craft workers, and farmers’ wives. This little museum holds the memory of a simple, refined, noble way of life in the joyful ambiance of the fragrant, sun-baked little town.

 

 

 

Barbara Berger At MAD NY

 

 

Summer Offerings New York – Don’t miss the fashion jewelry exhibit of  Barbara Berger at the Museum of Arts & Design.

A jewelry collection of a woman who can purchase the finest gems, but has an extensive collection of costume jewelry. Featuring over 450 pieces of fashion jewelry by designers such as Miriam Haskell, Marcel Boucher, Balenciaga, Kenneth Jay Lane, and Gripoix, this exhibition is an eye-opening assortment of necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, many of them one-of-a-kind, drawn from her world-renowned collection.

The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication published by Assouline: Fashion Jewelry – I’ve spent hours drooling over the exquisite pages and will make a pilgrimage to NY before summer slips away.

Iradj Moini has captured my attention more than a few times. Stunners, one of his necklaces is a guaranteed distraction from a bad hair day!