Transcript
Page 1: Douglas Hopkins Brochure

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H o p k i n s

D ouglas.

Purveyors of fine royal, ancient, or lost apothecarial discoveries.

www.DouglasHopkins.com

www.PerfumeFactory.org

New York City 212.327.2020

The four Douglas Hopkins scents are each imbued with

history, pedigree, romance, and joy.

The collection is offered in a variety of packagings, all with extended handicraft, for example, individually

inspected, French acid-frost, premium glass, “hip flasks”. Each scent design entity is delienated by a distinctive symbol. All are accompanied by the finest of quality

components, user selected screw caps and pumps, melded with minimalist packaging, and ranging in spirit from whimsical to utilitarian. Each scent is priced with flask variations from the exclusively affordable to ultra-luxury

exotic. All are visually arresting. A retail presence is powerfully secured through the combined display of

the alluring, limted editions, togther with the basic and affordable “daily ware” hip flasks.

In the following pages we are pleased to present a sampling of each of the four fragances, with snapshots of the international press and fashion editorial they have garnered.

Four Fragrances.

“Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart.” Proverbs 27:9

. . . .HD

Page 2: Douglas Hopkins Brochure

Italy Declares Douglas Hopkins

the Fragrance Design Winner

“The Geometry of Aromas from A to Z.”

“In spirit of the new age, in the name of the letter or the mathematic formula, in clear

or colored bottles, here is the essence of autumn.

From A to Z. The words in essence is what goes deep in the soul a game of

recalling sensations. He began from A (pronounced oh-say), the perfume of

Douglas Hopkins, to the arrival of Z of Zazou. A sweet touch accented by the

freshest notes imaginable.”

RoyalPrastara

A royal formula, commissioned by The Sun King, Louis XIV, dated 1682.

The four fragrances are enriched by this remarkable 17th century tome Douglas Hopkins found in the private castle library of Maria Theresa. The forgotten secrets revealed therein from the Louis XIV period -- the height of the perfuming arts -- were considered long lost. This extraordinary muse has elevated the creations of Douglas Hopkins through the Golden Age of Perfume’s unparalleled formu-las and methods. Below, too, his modern muse, Mrs. Oksana Katsuro-Hopkins, attending the gala launch of a new Saks Fifth Avenue, featuring her husband’s full fragrance & treatment lines.

Page 3: Douglas Hopkins Brochure

Prastara was first formulated by the Court Chemist to Louis XIV of France in 1682 (the year the Palace of Versailles was completed). Through extreme simplicity the highly layered ingredients reflect great ingeniousness using indigenous botanicals, these known to have been available in the renowned Ver-sailles gardens. It is a citrus “splash”, meant to be renewed through the day, due to the high oxidation rate of citrus oils.

The Sun King brought on a renaissance in the arts and sciences, a period considered to have produced the peak of perfumery. Few, if any, formulas exist from this infancy of scent. Shortly after WWII, a Latin manuscript was re-discovered in the attic of an 800 year old Polish soap factory in Lodz. This might originate from the fact that Louis’ mistress, who later became his last wife, was of Polish royalty. The cologne was the leading men’s fragrance in the former USSR for more than forty years.

A high note of blended citrus emanates from a base of fourteen essential oils blended and filled entirely by hand. Certain rare ingredients are sourced from remote parts of former Eastern Bloc countries (Bul-garia, for example). Here the herbs and flowers are pressed and extracted by manual methods refined through the centuries, untouched by modern automation. The resulting depth is a complex, almost mystical fusion of scent layering.

The limited edition bottle is entirely wrapped in a meticulous hand-woven protective willow wicker, echoing an age when glass was rare and precious. Filled by funnel, each has an individually applied wax seal, impressed with the Sun King’s emblem, completing the entirely by hand production. A portable version is available with premium components of a French glass hip flask, with a user selec-tion of pour or pump.The subtle, refreshing aura won’t over-power either room or partner. Paradoxi-cally, whilst women elect Prastara their fragrance, rejecting designer name concoctions of synthetic, mass-produced theatricals, it nevertheless retains a gentleman’s message of calm, of confidence. Its four citrus top notes lend a fresh zip to the day and can be renewed with no fear of broadcasting your goodwill. It is an excellent finale to your daily exercise routine.

Mademoiselle magazine extolls the Prastara pedigree.

Quiet dazzle. Prastara Blue.

“Women love this!” says Vogue magazine. The fragrance is spicy, hints of citrus and fruit with a founda-tion of complex metallic warmth. Fruit sweetness countered with lemon and filtered through floral with a woody sunshine. It has an unusually low lift, not intrusive; well modulated. This men’s fragrance defies

traditional fragrance classification and becomes indelible to the memory of your beholders.

Each handcrafted, limited edition bottle of Prastara Blue is tied and knotted for closure, hand embossed with real sealing wax. The royal mark of Prastara Blue on each bottle is the Sun King’s emblem, over three

hundred years old. Long a stand-by in the men’s department of Bergdorf Goodman, in 1999 it was selected to be the only American product in the première edition of Europe’s Villeroy & Boch luxury goods catalogue.

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An American in royal Europe.Prastara Blue featured full-page back cover, the only U.S. product included in the premiere luxury merchandise catalogue of Europe’s 400 year old Villeroy & Boch.

Bergdorf Goodman. “Timely/Timeless....”Spring catalogue 1998.

American Vogue: “Get This. Made for a king, but women love it...”November 1997

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You’re too young to wear this!

Day use safe.

Who but ZAZOU could be so light-hearted and complex???

The beholder is held captive on elegant ethers censed smoothly teasing with whimsy as the precocious fragrance intertwines its opening layer of berry-inspired reverie into a gauze-thin quiescence of sensuality. Time is at your side as this blend of essential oils, in their natural and varied oxidation rates, transforms from Red Currant, Blackberry & White Peach into a lingering transparency of Parma Violet, Pear Leaf, Sheer Jasmine, Madagascar Clear Vanilla, and Sandalwood. The faithful forgo the superfluous gold, silver and cellophane enticements, rewarded instead with a Persian miniature of complex, layered, olfactory images. Pursued beyond the cover.

The behelden are moved on the notes of an iconoclastic scent infused with romance and tradi�tion, encased in materials chosen by the finest ecological and esthetic standards, yet forever defying conventional classification.

This delectable frag in a flask sinks a hoop to lasting quality in the fine, oh yes so fine, I am here now experience, the imprint of one man’s passionate commitment to perfume as an intimate messenger of personal radianting joy.

Take it home, Zaz, it’s yours.

Un corked!

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British Vogue awards three positions on the prime “Players” list!

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The limited edition purse flask.

A miniature fragrance flask of fine Chinese porcelain & handcast, solid silver fittings in limited, numbered edition of five hundred worldwide. Available in the two sublime Douglas Hopkins exclusive fragrances.

Åse & Zazou One-half ounce purse dimensions with three-quarter ounce refill.

Flask design inspried from a 350 year old Chinese export perfume container. Enrobed in velvet, silk-lined pouch. Numbered edition each of Åse & Zazou is 750. Twenty percent extrait distillation. In pure silver: $736. In Russian red gold: $1640.

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H o p k i n s

D ouglas.

Purveyors of fine royal, ancient, or lost apothecarial discoveries.

“What woman wouldn’t want a perfume named after her?”

Douglas Hopkins extracted his first women’s scent right from romance. Fastidious CARE was taken, with two years in the making.

FLUX is the scent of Åse: sophistication taunted by liberation; a cool refinement punc-tuated by undercurrents of sensuality so pervasive as to be UNCONTROLLABLE. A

rare and fertile rose attar evokes provocatively redolent feminine warmth discreetly veiled by cool top notes of VIRGIN gold spice. It is civilized self-confidence tempered by earthly obsession. NOW YOU TAKE CARE: removing the stopper of this delicate

cordial yields no symmetry, no obvious answer; only a cloaking of purpose. Balance and abandon are uneasily poised as essence grazes a woman’s pulse point.

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Curious as it may seem, Hopkins began his career as far away from the world of beauty as one can be. A volcanologist for NASA at MIT, Hopkins spent his early years traveling the world climbing active volcanoes to measure first-hand the often violent eruptions. His expeditions with NASA across the globe brought an incidental familiarity with the powers and effectiveness of geothermal based spa compounds, as they are often found in volcanically active regions, such as central Italy. Unbeknownst to Hopkins at the time, this scientific endeavor would prove instrumental in formulating his innovative personal treatment products.

After a few years of hazardous hangouts on the peaks of exploding volcanoes, Hopkins came to the realization that his true calling came in a leap from the empirical to the creative. Upon publication of one of his volcano explosion images as a magazine cover, he began pursuing his lifelong love of photography in earnest. After classical apprenticeship with Ansel Adams and MIT professor Minor White, Hopkins spent 15 years as a successful fashion photographer before he discovered the beloved fragrance that would ultimately bend the course of his life and career one more time.

The seemingly unrelated experience Hopkins gained from the conjunction of two radically differing lines of work, art and science, became the platform vaulting his point of view into the competitive world of beauty. His experience in the precise requirements of science contributes to products with meticulous standards for both content and efficacy. His publishing experience in the ephemeral abstractions of fashion and beauty, coupled with passionate artistic drive, allows him to conceptualize packaging that is at once fresh and unfettered, yet deeply personal, retaining a distinctive “irreverent elegance”, an anti-chic pragmatism. To this day, Hopkins both designs and maintains a careful, atelier scale of manufacture for all products bearing his name, assuring that the medium of his communication with the customer is of the purest quality. In fragrance romance is his signature; in treatment, science his content. This is evidenced by both his exotic group of luxury scents, each bearing intimacies layered by real life, and with his Geothermology collection of mineral-rich treatments for the age-added and environmentally abused of us.

The Founder.

Douglas Hopkins

Simply put, Douglas Hopkins is not a likely candidate to be the founder of a luxury fragrance and personal treatment company. Creating for more than a decade, this unlikely perfumer discovered his passion for the language of fragrance almost accidentally. Twelve years ago, while traveling through the former Soviet Union, Hopkins fell in love with an ancient, Louis XIV provenanced fragrance called “Prastara”, meaning “ancient” in Russian. A well-kept secret of the cold war era, it had been the leading men’s cologne in that part of the world for over forty years. So moved by the fragrance he bought the world rights and set to work developing it for Western appreciation. Today, with the addition of three supremely singular fragrances and a seventy-piece, meticu-lously produced treatment line, Douglas Hopkins finds himself the object of a seriously devout following.

Portraits & covers by Douglas Hopkins. Above: Sharon Stone. Below (second): Phoebe Cates

In the company of distinctive taste.

For over fifteen years Douglas Hopkins & Co. has developed, manufactured, and internationally distributed fine fragrances, personal treatment products and fashion accessories of distinctive qual-ity to a narrow selection the leading luxury retailers of the world, including Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys, Galerie Lafayette - Paris, and Space NK - London.

In a focused commitment to its discerning customers, the company acquired its prestigious reputa-tion through superior formulation, distinctive minimilist design, and exceptional quality control. The fragrances and formulas have built a loyal following of repeat sales. The company’s founda-tion in modern science and technology assure maximum perfuming efficacy while preserving Old World sensibilities. This is reflected in the European atelier style of manufacturing combining hand-craft with high-tech methods for limited edition production.

The company was founded in 1989 with the purchase by Mr. Hopkins of the leading Soviet men’s cologne, Prastara. This fresh citrus splash, one of the oldest known royal formulas, commissioned by The Sun King, Louis XIV, dates back to 1682. The company’s portfolio of fragrances has grown by demand over the years to include three additional enduring classics: Åse, Zazou, and Prastara Blue; those for women are imbued with romantic inspiration while remaining highly distinctive, and all four are infused with historical reference and royal pedigree.

Artisan creators of luxury.

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Fragrance NotesRoyal Prastara

Pronounced. “PRAH-star-ah”. Means “ancient” or “venerable” in Russian.

Description. Complex 4-citrus high notes with rapid transition to a friendly, slightly sensual background. An established men’s classic, appropriate both for casual, sport, after-exercise, summer refreshment as well as conservative office and evening use. Majority of purchasers are women. Initial two-lemon, lime and orange top is a mood replenisher; lingering middle tones are yang sensuality.

Background. Commissioned by the French monarch, Louis XIV, “The Sun King”, in 1682, the year Versailles was completed and a period considered the peak of perfumery. (Louis’ mistress was Polish royalty. She evidently kept the home fires burning.) Was the number one fragrance in the old USSR; produced in Europe since 1848 and Poland since WWII. Made entirely by hand, each wicker bottle filled by funnel in a turn of the century in the shadow of the Carpathanian Mountains.

Fragrance Image. The subtle redolence a 1950’s, bowler-hatted English gentleman leaves in the elevator cabin. The light, citrus top note keeps its strength no more than a few hours and is customarily renewed periodically for full effect. This fragrance is classified in the “splash” category: a refreshing dose starts your day with the established psychological effect of “citrus uplift”. In public it keeps the tasteful “arm’s length boundary”; no commercial-strength broadcast radiating to the corners of the office. No offensive residue from your business handshake. The subtle, refreshing aura won’t over-power either room or partner. Paradoxically, whilst women elect Prastara their fragrance, rejecting designer name concoctions of synthetic, mass-produced theatricals, it nevertheless retains a gentleman’s message of calm, of confidence. Its four citrus top notes lend a fresh zip to the day and can be renewed with no fear of broadcasting your goodwill. It is an excellent finale to your daily exercise routine or after the beach.

Fragrance Summary. Citral, Bergamot, Bulgarian Rose, Lemon, Orange, Lime, Musk, Cardamon, Bulgarian Lavender, Rosemary.

Package. The bottle is distinctively hand-woven in willow wicker sealed at the cap with the Sun King’s royal symbol impressed in authentic sealing wax. The accompanying After-Shave Balm is one of the best men’s post-razor treatments to be found, with a silky dry-down, no oil or shine, topped with menthol and oil of Melissa for effective healing. Newly available in the “Sportsware” line, a French glass, frosted hip-flask, with optional European spray pump and pour capacity.

Prastara Blue

Pronounced “PRAH-star-ah.” Means “ancient” or “venerable” in Russian.

Description. Spicy, hint of citrus fruit with a foundation of complex metallic warmth. Fruit sweetness filtered through floral with a classic woody sunshine. A mellowed man’s territory. Low lift, not intrusive. Defies traditional fragrance category classification.

Background. The original, classic men’s Prastara cologne citrus theme transformed from day wear to evening. Flagship bottle in an eclectic corked and hand-sealed cobalt-blue bottle. A fragrance unto its own category created by Douglas Hopkins. An untamed statement of 1960’s Southern California: the surfing, the hippie life, the sunshine, the life of languid freedom. And a flashback to the warm, crafted wood and metal of the 1932 Pan Am Clipper winging to the Orient.

Fragrance Image. Secure, iconoclastic, tailored and savored. Chairman of the Board on the factory floor. In another life would be found on the 1934 Pan Am Clipper bound for Hong Kong. Highly individual.

Fragrance Summary. Top - Pineapple, Coconut, Plum, Lemon, Bergamot, Mandarin, Neroli, Lavender, Fir, Spices. Middle - Cyclamen, Geranium, Jasmine, Carnation, Heliotrope, Cinnamon. Base - Vanilla, Patchouli, Amber, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Oakmoss, Musk.

Package. Flagship bottle secured with traditional European “cork knot” cord tie, a specially prepared premium Portuguese cork and fanciful red cap (6 ounce size). The old Boston mill, 1940’s high-quality war-surplus cotton cord encircles the neck, drawn down under the label then hand-stamped with an authentic sealing wax impression of exceptional depth. This ancient and traditional signature of royal authority is executed with imported Gutenberg German wax in a custom shade of forest green laced with flecks of rare metals.

Åse

“Crafted in Tears for a Princess of Myth.”

Pronounced. “OH-seh” or “OH-say” as in “Oh say can you see....”

Translation. In Scandinavian mythology means “Princess”.

Fragrance Image. Spicy floral on warm velvet powder base. Extremely high lift in spray, a scintillating and pervasive diffusion. The flagship essence is-in technical French terms-an “extrait”; a category higher than perfume concnetration, over 30º%. Aspects of scent derived from 1699 French perfumer’s manual.

Background. Simple, generic packaging follows the myth of a Swedish warrior wrapping a baby in his gold royal cloak and placing her in a plain wooden box which he casts upon the sea for protection from certain death by invaders. She drifts to a shore in Norway where the old King discovers her. He adopts her as his daughter to become Princess of the land. It is the only fragrance of this decade inspired by an actual romance.

Fragrance Summary. Orange Flower, Peach, Plum, Cassis, Mint, Honeysuckle, Rose, Jasmine, Orchid, Tuberose, Vanilla, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Amber Sandalwood, Lily of the Valley, Vetiver, Musk, Oak-moss.

Package. The flagship bottle is a handblown, glass flask with all glass stopper; no plastic. Hand sealed with golden wire. Sprays recommended for purse. Ground-glass stopper may loosen and is intended for dresser use only. Concentration of Extrait is 33%º, Perfume 18º%, Eau Delicate 10%. Most are boxed in lasting, reusable, “plain brown” boxes. Extrait swaddled in a custom golden fabric from India hand-tied with silver cord, packed with handmade papers. Body Delicate is an organic botanical moisturizer based on Lindenflower.

Zazou

“You’re too young to wear this.”

Fragrance Description. Red Currant, Blackberry, White Peach, Parma Violet, Pear leaf, Sheer Jasmine, Sandalwood.

Background. Over the ether Internet romance, no language in common, love and words binds the relationship. Youthful insouciance, breezy intelligence.

Fragrance Image. Young. Trend setter. A lingering transparency. A subtle “On My Own”. Day and Night. A touch zany.

Fragrance Summary. “The California scent with hints of sanity.” “Day Use Safe.” The faithful forgo the superfluous gold, silver and cellophane enticements, rewarded instead with a Persian miniature of complex, layered, olfactory images.

Package. The flagship bottle is a handblown, glass flask with all glass stopper; no plastic. Hand sealed with golden wire. Sprays recommended for purse. Ground-glass stoppers may loosen, intended for dresser use only. Concentration of Extrait is 33%º, Perfume 18º%, Eau Delicate 10%. Most boxed in heavy duty reusable boxes.

Fragrance Notes


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