Dominique and I have known each other since 2010, when he first created a perfume for my fashion school diploma collection. That was our first collaboration. Since then, we’ve worked on many other projects together – either him for my collections, or me to realise his perfumes into shape, like in the case for the Dubai Expo, where we first tested the technical principle of microencapsulation in textile for the dress that was perfumed with his bespoke fragrance.
We developed a common language, so it was really easy for us to work together and understand each other for this Vacheron Constantin project. In perfume, we talk about things that are completely abstract. I feed him words of feelings, colours, textures, which he then scientifically translates into a formula. There’s some magic happening there, which took years to build, because to another perfumer, the same words will mean something completely different. It’s a beautiful creative partnership.
When this project came along, I wanted to include Dominique’s expertise in shaping and crafting this portrait of time. He’s a true creative in that he loves opportunities to step outside his comfort zone and discover something he doesn’t know yet about himself. These multi-platform collaborations are great avenues to express something beyond our own boundaries.
As a designer known for engaging the senses through your fashion creations, how does the addition of scent to this watch reflect your artistic vision?
I wanted to create a sensorial experience of time that paved the way to the emotional dimension of time, experience of time… one that’s more connected to our intuition. I felt that perfume was the perfect medium to open this door because scents have the innate and fascinating ability to blur the boundaries between imagination and reality. And using perfume is a way to invite the audience into these emotionally charged depths of time, which is very similar to the mental space I’m in when I create. This is where everything is suspended, nothing else exists, just moving shapes, volumes, and colours. I felt that perfume could nourish this project with emotion and connection.
Is there an aspect of the concept watch that you feel particularly connected to?
What I especially like about this concept watch is the simplification of its style from the traditional Egerie. This model is devoid of hour markers, which I wanted removed. It represents a departure from reality, the linear measure of time, and constraints of time, and is about embracing another state of being that is weightless and unrestricted. Getting rid of this aesthetic code was a big step for the maison. It was a very interesting negotiation process with them but we reached a common ground in the end.
I see this watch as a sensorial object that serves as a reminder to be fully in the present moment. Everyone has their own relationship with time. You can be a slave to time; it can become your worst enemy if you’re not kind to yourself, but you can also twist time around to control it and define your own way to live time. And I think that having a moon phase complication is a reminder to invest in time to protect this suspended realm in which creativity can express itself, so that you can marvel at things in the present.
