Description
In the mid 1970s, Yves Saint Laurent imagined a perfume that would capture the essence of fantasy—something lush, large, dangerous, unforgettable. Fed by Orientalism, poetry
and excess, it began with a hallucinatory phrase, ‘flowers of fire’, and evolved into Opium.
With its red inrō-inspired bottle and black tassel, designed by Pierre Dinand, Opium blurred the lines between art and desire, elegance and provocation. Here, scent, bottle,
name and bold marketing aligned with rare perfection to create a new kind of object.
With protests and bans and record-breaking sales, Opium became more than a perfume, straddling politics, identity, and female power, while reshaping modern perfumery.
Fashion, design and cultural history come together in this scintillating account of one of the world’s most iconic fragrances.
About the authors
Jeff Koehler writes about food and culture from Barcelona and Menorca. He is the author of ten books, including Matisse in Morocco, The North African Cookbook, Darjeeling: A History of the World’s Greatest Tea and Where the Wild Coffee Grows. His books have won a James Beard Award, been Editors’ Choice for the New York Times, paperback of the week in the Guardian and the Book Club selection for The Art Newspaper. Koehler’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, NPR, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Times Literary Supplement, South China Morning Post, Vogue Arabia, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Bloomberg Pursuits and many other publications.
Instagram @jeff_koehler
About MINĪ
MINĪ – Stories of Art, Architecture & Style
MINĪ is a new collection of small, finely crafted books exploring the larger world or art, architecture and design. Each volume is a standalone extended essay that offers a fresh way of seeing and imagining our larger world.
Born in Barcelona and rooted in Chandigarh, India, Altrim celebrates this cultural exchange through MINĪ, original essays from voices across the globe.
Elegant, distinctive, and evocative, MINĪ offers a literary journey where imagination and design meet on every page.
