As a tribute to a nightclub in the immediate vicinity of the first DIPTYQUE boutique, the fragrance celebrates the place where the founders sealed their friendship. The club was their living room, their evening meeting place, an office outside their small empire. They invited their allies here, they talked about their latest discoveries and tested their works here, sketches were created here, ideas flowed freely.
Orphéon is an olfactory dream, dominated by cedar, vetiver, and patchouli. In four words: fresh, floral, sensual, woody. And as always, free of any gender roles.
As DIPTYQUE lovers know, it all began exactly sixty years ago in the Latin Quarter, the vibrant heart of Parisian artistic and intellectual nightlife. The post-war period was almost over, the student revolt of May 1968 was still ahead: there was a peaceful hustle and bustle. Everyone discussed with everyone, they talked about politics and freedom, but also about culture and innovation – a significant exchange. Philosophers had superstar status (Sartre, Aron, Althusser). Godard, Rohmer, and Rivette revolutionized French cinema. Jazz was heard everywhere, and designers' ready-to-wear collections conquered the streets.
These were the years when the founding trio formed. A stroke of genius in many respects. Their friendship became a kind of creative triad of enthusiasm, imagination, and desires – six hands put the inexhaustibly sprouting ideas into practice. Creativity throbbed in their fingers and hearts. "Driven by the desire to create something true," Christiane would later describe these impulses. An idea became a sketch, a memory became an inspiration, details lined up and complemented each other, their talents multiplied each other. Brotherhood, spontaneity, modernity. A work in progress. The early sixties were also the great era of cafés: Boulevard Saint-Germain and the surrounding district were dotted with such meeting places, which Boris Vian called "archipelagos". Some opened only when the others closed: the Rose Rouge, the Caveau de la Huchette, the Tabou, the Montana, and the Mephisto, where one could meet Albert Camus and Roger Vadim. The Orphéon: half club, half living room, a cult spot on a corner between a shop with two display windows and the Rue de Pointoise.
The Italian sculptor and adopted Parisian Gianpaolo Pagni also designed his drawings for Orphéon in the style of a narrative: On the front, in the middle of the oval, is a stylized interpretation of the fabric patterns that mark DIPTYQUE's graphic origin. An optical effect of forms offset against each other and captured in rays of light, reflected in the only relic of the Orphéon club: a column with stroboscopic facets, which today occupies a central place in the boutique at 34 Boulevard Saint Germain. A touch of party flair from times past. On the back, the comeback of a historical motif: in three shades of gray, three different, overlapping profiles – a symbol of Desmond, Christiane, and Yves and their fruitful collaboration, which has now made a name for itself worldwide. As always with DIPTYQUE – and has been for 60 years – Orphéon is thus a work in three acts: Maison, perfumer, illustrator.
The Eau de Parfum Orphéon combines many notes that are reminiscent of the interior of a bar: fine wooden furniture, cocktails and cigarette smoke, well-dressed and perfumed guests, and ladies wearing make-up. The overall olfactory impression of this fragrance expresses a radiant memory of the best and most positive elements of Parisian nightlife in Saint-Germain.
