Derived from the French word for ‘wake’, ‘sillage’ is a perfumery term used to describe a lingering scent trail. Although its wearer may have left the room, any powerful fragrance will remain behind, like an olfactory phantom. ‘Long after one has forgotten what a woman wore, the memory of her perfume lingers,’ said Christian Dior of an intoxicating fragrance’s ability to haunt and beguile.
Of the many perfumes in the history of Dior, Poison, created by Edouard Fléchier in 1985, distinctly encapsulates this statement. Containing plum, coriander, anise, tuberose, incense and honey, this bombastic, syrupy scent could diffuse a nuclear aroma of grape-flavoured candy with a single spritz. (Such was its intensity, some offices and restaurants outlawed those who dared to wear it.)
Fléchier’s predecessor, master nose Edmond Roudnitska, who…
