Arnhem
Mode Biennale

Employing Scent As An Author
In The Narrative Of Fashion

AMBER: A FASHION BIENNALE FRAGRANCE AND INSTALLATION

CASE STUDY
As the skin is the canvas for fragrance, the body is the canvas for fashion. Fragrance and fashion are two artistic disciplines that share similar ambition, to be discovered and defined by the individual who beholds them. Amber explores ‘the self’ as a medium in which both perfume and fashion collaborate and together evolve.

THE BRIEF
For their 2011 Biennale theme, the AMB team created a fictional muse named AMBER, short for Arnhem Mode Biennale—and the “er” signifying one who is an active player. This androgynous character was envisioned to represent the multi-facets of contemporary fashion. Fashion designers such as MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA, RAF SIMONS, THOM BROWN, RODARTE, IRIS VAN HERPEN, BLESS, JUUN J and DAMIR DOMA came together in an exhibition to give AMBER an image, and Studio FOLIE was tasked with giving her a smell; one that captured the ephemeral, transient and omnipresent nature of fashion.

IDEAS
The olfactive approach was to apply the traditional structure of a fragrance to the context of a character study. The “Top Notes” of the perfume were conceived around the idea of a person’s “ visual appearance”. The “Middle Notes” represented the individual’s “personality”, the intimate secrets that are revealed and histories uncovered. Finally, the “Bottom Notes” - the “resolution”, embody how you would remember this person after meeting them and the influences they had on your life. The result was an olfactive personification of fashion, translated into an installation that followed the structural concept of the perfume.