Le Vestiaire des Parfums - Capeline Alluring Lily

THE OLFACTION
Throughout his career, Yves Saint Laurent would play on the capeline’s paradox: a nonchalant way of going incognito that is also the most spectacular of accessories. To capture its alluring silhouette, the VP perfumer Juliette Karagueuzoglou has chosen the majestic lily, whose name in French forms the anagram of Yves Saint Laurent’s initials. YSL. LYS. The couturier’s emblem—every one of his houses was filled with sprigs of pure white Casablanca lilies.

Since the essence of this headiest of flowers cannot be extracted, Juliette Karagueuzoglou says she has drawn from her memories of summers by the sea to compose “a delicate, immaculately white lily that grows on dunes in the beach grass. The freshness of its silky petals is brought out by a lick of salty spray.”

But as it unfolds its petals, this pure beauty reveals an enigmatic current of hidden sensuality. Vanilla absolute, warm and creamy with the merest touch of leather, colors the mysterious flower with a darker patina. A sophisticated match between the couture elegance of Yves Saint Laurent’s lucky-charm lily and the sensual nonchalance of black pod. Heady and head-turning.

THE INSPIRATION
It is an iconic, yet touchingly intimate picture. Taken on January 29th, 1962, it shows the straight, slender figure of Yves Saint Laurent as he peers into a room from the wings. In a moment, his fledgling couture house will premiere its first collection. The very epitome of Parisian elegance stands in the foreground: a model in a white cocktail dress whose face is hidden by a spectacular capeline.

Worn for centuries as a protection against the sun, the wide-brimmed hat sailed from catwalks and garden parties to the glamorous haunts of chic Bohemians in the 1960s. Another no less iconic image of 1968 captures the hat’s roguish chic as it crowns the statuesque model Veruschka, her safari jacket provocatively unlaced, a rifle slung across her shoulders, deep in the heart of the African savannah.

The capeline, a wide-brimmed hat often associated with elegance and drama, holds a special place within Yves Saint Laurent's legacy. More than just an accessory, it represents a key element of the YSL style, embodying the brand's unique blend of sophistication and a bohemian touch.