"Like a saddlery stitch": Hermès perfumer Christine Nagel on the creation of their newest scent

Swiss perfumer Christine Nagel has been with Hermès since 2016. During her decade as the French maison’s in-house nose, Nagel has authored scents such as Agar Ebene – part of the Hermessence line of perfumers’ perfumes, Agar Ebene lists notes of oud, ebony and vanilla – and Twilly, which smells of ginger, bitter orange, tuberose and jasmin, and is named after a signature ribbon-like Hermès silk accessory. To Nagel, Hermès is a house with kaleidoscopic inspirations and themes. And for her, all began by researching the materials Hermès works with across its many metiers, from saddlery to fashion and jewellery.

“Right from the start, I immersed myself in materials – the leather store in particular – because at Hermès, everything starts with exceptional materials, unique know-how and carefully executed gestures,” she explains. “The saddle stitch, for example, is not just a technique, it’s a language: a way of assembling two elements together in such a way that they reveal each other over time.”

It’s this stitch that recently inspired a new scent. Released this month, Musc Pallida is part of Fleur de peau, a Hermessence group of skin scents. “In Musc Pallida, I have translated this idea into fragrance – like two pieces of leather stitched together, iris and musk gently merge, intertwine and gradually reveal their intimacy.”

Musc Pallida is above all a tribute to these two key notes, iris and musk.“Iris pallida is one of the most precious raw materials in my perfumer’s palette. It is a form of olfactory gold: radiant, subtle and profoundly elegant,” explains Nagel. “With Musc Pallida, I want to move away from an overly powdery or distant iris to reveal instead its softness, its light and its almost tactile dimension.”

To this, she added musk. “Musk is a surprising material that is difficult to describe in words,” says Nagel, and continues, “If I had to express it in an image, I would say it acts like an invisible underskirt. When it’s not there, everything is flatter. It gives a fragrance more volume. Together, iris and musk form a second-skin fragrance that is at once intimate, sensual, carnal and extremely delicate.”