“My favourite scent? Pure rose. Rose is my element”, says Sileno Cheloni. Hundreds of ingredients are given to be used for the design of his tailored olfactory compositions

MyStylery: Sileno, did you always know that you wanted to be a perfumer someday?
Sileno Chileno: No, it’s a long story. I always had a passion for perfumes and fragrances and I remember when I was young, I often visited my uncle who lived in the South of France and I bought things I couldn’t find in Italy. If I had to decide whether to buy a jacket or a perfume, I would have bought the perfume, because it was my way to distinguish myself. The smell was a very important part of my dressing.
MS: That’s interesting, I have never thought about a perfume being a piece of clothing.
SC: Absolutely. Even today I say to my clients that wearing a perfume is like wearing a suit. It’s the same. Of course it depends where you go and what you do, you wear the perfume in a certain way. Depending on the situation you will wear the same fragrance but with a different attitude. What I want to transmit to people is the experience, not just the smell.

Sileno Cheloni: Composer, creator, master perfumer. Like a conductor, he harmonizes olfactory notes like a musical score, translating them into a previously imagined olfactory form

MS: How did you become a perfumer then? Did you visit a special school?
SC: I first studied visual arts to become a photographer and a designer, always searching for spirituality. I learned about the Sufism philosophy, which is connected to the Hindu religion and the Islam, but the spiritual part of the Islam, not with any political aspect. And during my travels to the island of Cyprus I met a perfumer who was an inspiration. I bought many essences and oils and when I arrived at home I created my first scent in my laundry room. That used to be my first laboratory 20 years ago. And the process of composing a scent is a non material world. One composes on a different level. It’s something you don’t see.
MS: But you can see the liquid…
SC: Yes, of course you can see the liquid in the bottle, but it’s like going to a concert and recording the music you can listen to after the concert is over. But the emotion is gone. You can’t preserve the emotion. From the moment when I created my first scent, I felt that is going to be my job, I felt the passion inside, which was so strong that there was no alternative…

Creating perfume is emotion

MS: You had no other choice then…
SC: Yes. But I didn’t have any finances or business. The most difficult thing is finding the right raw materials. The perfume market is a huge industry and also a huge investment, because you need thousands of kilos of materials and in the beginning, I had no idea how to manage this part. Imagine, I presented my first collection in London at Harrod’s on the fifth floor, where you can find the most selective perfume brands in the world and the most expensive fragrances. And in this exclusive surrounding I provided my perfumes made of 50 different raw materials, produced in my laundry at home. And the most astonishing thing was that they wanted my creations. So Harrod’s became my first customer.
MS: How many bottles did you sell?
SC: About one hundred of each of my five perfumes. This is how it started. Then I realized that I needed support in order to get a better source for the raw materials and other conditions for the production, because it’s hard to get access to the market. One of my favourite ingredients, the May Rose of the area of Grass in Provence, I can’t even buy today. Although I met a guy years ago, who is the son of the biggest Italian perfumers, who is my best friend today. But the May Rose is exclusively produced for the company of Christian Dior.

Sileno Cheloni: He also developed the signature fragrance of Gucci a few years ago

MS: What is the most important requirement for your job – Is it a good nose?
SC: Of course the nose is important. But it’s more about creativity, ideas and passion.
MS: Have you ever read the book “The Parfum” by Patrick Süskind?
SC: Yes. And I liked it very much. It’s a little exaggerated but the sensation of the job is well described. You have to be involved with the smell. Even when I am on holiday, I am focussed on all the smells and influences. I keep all these information to use it at some point.

A good nose is important

MS: Are there any fragrances you don’t like at all?
SC: To be honest, I like all of them. Even the worst (laughs).
MS: Also Christian Dior’s “Poison”? I will never forget the American shopping malls in the 80s, with the heavy smell of “Poison” everywhere.
SC: If you like “Poison”, then you should wear it. But if you go to a restaurant or bar, where other people are eating and drinking, don’t bother them with such an intense scent. It’s not at all elegant, because it’s disturbing and leaves a bouquet five meters behind you. When visiting a bar or restaurant, you better wear your perfume on your skin. Not on your clothes. So people get to know about your perfume, when they come close to you.

“Better wear perfume on your skin. So people get to know about your perfume, when they come close to you.”

MS: Before you started your own brand in Florence, you were working for Gucci and other luxury brands. What was the main difference in your work?
SC: I still work for these companies and develop home fragrances and scented candles for example. This expands my creativity. Working for a big company means talking to many people, the marketing, the designer, the responsibilities, always focussing on the brand’s image. For example every Gucci store you enter there is a certain smell, which has to tell you something about the company. And I created that smell. On the other hand my brand is, where I can express myself and nobody can tell me, how.
MS: Every year there are hundreds of new fragrances floating the market – they come and they go. I wonder, why there are only a few becoming real classics.
SC: Everybody is copying each other. But each company launches one perfume, which is a little bit more different from the others. Normally this is the one, they sell less. But sometime – and we don’t know why – this perfume becomes very famous. And it gets so much commercial attention. Think about Davidoff or L’Hiver de Guerlain, it’s been there for twenty years. These perfumes were completely different compared to others on the market and the market was ready for something new. That is why oud – a strong oriental scent – is famous in the market, although it started first in a niche.

The master perfumer Sileno Cheloni and I after our interview: “A good perfumer must be a bit chemical but above all an artist and a visionary.”

MS: There are fragrances, some of them a hundered years old, which we wouldn’t use anymore.
SC: Yes, and many factors why an old perfume doesn’t work in today’s market. A beautiful car from the thirties is also difficult to drive today, there are spare parts, no advanced technology nor an AC. But lots of pollution.
MS: Do you remember how many fragrances you have created in your career as a perfumer?
SC: I don’t (laughs)…
MS: Is there a new trend or do you consider trends at all?
SC: What I like more is working on a smaller level and influence the new trend. This is much more interesting. Creating a trend doesn’t make you feel very happy. It can only happen when having several experts on your side, a very good business man next to you. You will be like a part of a perfect machine. I prefer having my own little place, where I can express myself and from there influencing the big brands instead of following. BvH

Contact:

silenocheloni.it

More interviews you can find here.

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The Entrée of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris with the imitated façade of the house on Avenue Montaigne, where even today atelier and flagshipstore of Dior are located: Bonjour, Christian Dior!

As a teenager, I was enthusiastic about “Miss Dior”, a fragrance that Christian Dior launched as the first perfume of Dior in 1947. My godmother gave me the perfume classic for my 16th birthday. My first luxury accessory, which flowery note I still have in my nose today. At the moment the Christian Dior exhibition “Couturier du Rêve”, which not only reminds of the perfume history of Dior, is running in Paris. The exhibition is devoted to the life and work of the haute couture master, whose empire turned 70 years on July 5.

Christian Dior loved the opulence, both in the interior and in his clothes creations

For me it was clear to go to Paris: This show cannot be missed as an art and fashion affine person. I had heard from friends that endless visitors were winding around the northern part of the Louvre, where more than 300 haute couture robes from seven decades were displayed in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs on 3,000 square meters. With my online ticket, I quickly passed the queue, into an exhibition that took me for hours on a spectacular journey through the decades of French luxury.

The garden theme with dresses by different Dior designers in floral prints and applications. The pink bustier dress (center) is a creation by Christian Dior, left Raf Simons, to the right Maria Grazia Chiuri

A retrospective of the history of one of the most important couture houses with personal letters and photos – also unpublished private photographs of Christian Dior, first fashion drawings and designs, campaign pictures and videos, accessories such as bags, shoes, jewelery and the legendary perfume bottles. The exhibition, which is divided into various conceptual spaces on themes such as the “flower dreams”, the “boudoir” or the “great evening gown”, begins with the collection debut of Christian Dior in 1947.

“Diablesse”: Red dress of Christian Dior’s collection debut in 1947

In addition to the partial robes of the great master, who died of a heart attack in 1957 at only 52 in southern France, the show also presents the successors of Dior. In the same year, his former assistant Yves Saint Laurent took over the fashion space that had been successfully established for a decade. He was followed by Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Raf Simons and today’s chief designer Maria Grazia Chiuri. “Couturier du Rêve” is a tribute to one of the greatest fashion creators of all times, the legacy of Christian Dior, which impressively shows how the brand has influenced the fashion industry and the culture for decades. I am impressed. J’adore Dior.  BvH

A retrospective of the history of one of the most important couture houses with personal letters and photos – also unpublished private photographs of Christian Dior

About Christian Dior

Born in Normandy in 1905, Dior, who wanted to become an architect, began as a gallerist in Paris with financial support from his father, an industrialist. Due to the insolvency of his father’s company as a result of the global economic crisis in 1931, Dior first designed hat fashion for the fashion supplement of the newspaper Le Figaro and finally modèces for Parisian haute couture fashion houses. The fashion designer Robert Piguet drew attention to Dior and engaged the talented painter and draftsman in 1938. After the Second World War, Dior received from the wealthy textile manufacturer Marcel Boussac 60 million francs as starting capital for the establishment of the Haute Couture house Christian Dior. In the same year he moved his studio to the elegant Avenue Montaigne in Paris, where the Dior flagship store still is today. The first fashion collection, presented by Dior in February 1947, was a sensation and was celebrated by American journalists as “The New Look”. After the scanty, simple ladies’ wear of the war years, Dior created a narrow waist, figurative tops, wide, opulent skirts of noble materials, combined with elegant wagon-wheel hats and long gloves. Critics criticized the lavish use of scarce resources and a return to antiquated fashion in times of emancipating women, but Dior’s influence was considerable: Quickly his high-priced haute couture designs were copied from the mass market.

Black-and-white fashion photographs showing Dior models

With every season Dior presented a new ‘look’, always cheered by the fashion industry and the wealthy customers. The calyx-line was followed by the dome-, lily of the valley-, the pencil-, H-, A- and Y-lines. Dior’s creations contributed significantly to making Paris a fashion capital.

With numerous worldwide licenses – including perfumes – Dior built up an empire within a few years. He was considered reserved, shy, and humble, and felt uncomfortable in public affairs in society. His homosexuality was not addressed in the public at that time. In October 1957 Christian Dior died, presumably due to a heart attack. He was one of the most internationally renowned fashion designers and left a mark that was successfully developed under his successors.

One theme of the exhibition is devoted to the development of Dior perfumes – including their elaborate flacons

Tip:

Book your ticket for the exhibition online. This avoids waiting for hours. You need patience anyway, because there is a great deal of excitement in front of the individual exhibition pieces. Therefore also be cautious of pickpockets (living without my beloved cashmere scarf ever since). Plan sufficient time: It took me four hours to look at the exhibition.

So beautiful: On the left a design by Christian Dior from 1956, to the right of his successor Yves Saint Laurent from the year 1960

Info Christian Dior Exhibition:

The world’s largest Dior exhibition „Couturier du Rêve“  runs until the 7th of January 2018 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Christian Dior, who wanted to become an architect, began as a gallerist in Paris

He first designed hat fashion for the fashion supplement of the newspaper Le Figaro and finally modèces for Parisian haute couture fashion houses

One dress more beautiful than the other

Personalities such as the English Princess Margaret (Foto), Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich and Lady Diana were dressed by the traditional house

Today, Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman and Rihanna are among the fans of the Dior brand

Here are the designs by John Galliano (far back) and Raf Simons (middle) with a reminiscence of Christian Dior’s predilection for opulence

This part of the exhibition is devoted to colors: Accessories and clothing in white …

… black-and-white …

… Gray … and elaborately designed mini models, which show the respective design already in detail

… Orange …

… Red …

… Purple …

… in all nuances and shades …

… Blue …

… and Black

“Parfum is the finishing touch to any dress.”

One of my favorite gowns

Lush embroided evening peeptoe

And always John Galliano ..

… who fascinates me with his imaginative creations as here on the topic of the Far East. To the right a design by Christian Dior

John Galliano: “Thamar” and “Shéhérazade”, Spring-Summer 1998

The Garden topic in rose variations

… and Dior’s lily-of-the-valley line (far back) interpreted by his successors

This filigree embroidered floral gown is designed by Raf Simons

And once again John Galliano: Beyond beautiful, isn’t it?

On a journey with imperishable fashion from all Dior decades

Dior on the titles of international high-gloss magazines: “The photographs and drawings published in the magazines often present me with an entirely new light on my creations.”

They shaped the heritage of Christian Dior and represent the further development of the Dior style: Yves Saint Laurent

Marc Bohan

Gianfranco Ferré

John Galliano

Raf Simons

Maria Grazia Chiuri

“I wanted my dresses to be moulded to the contours of the female body.”

Atelier atmosphere with designs, which are first made of white nettle, which is demonstrated in this part of the exhibition of seamstresses

At the end of the exhibition, the real highlight is the spectacular presentation of a staging of lush elegance, light and sound installation. For this room alone one should plan half an hour

MyStylery in action – the world’s largest Dior exhibition “Couturier du Rêve” runs until the 7th of January 2018 at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris

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