Prologue
With Miranda Kerr as its muse and packaging created by Alex Israel, this perfume was conceived as a scent that “draws you to the sea.” LV’s Les Colognes line already comprised six creations; this fragrance was born as its seventh.
All the Parfums de Cologne are scents inspired by California. Whereas California Dream evokes “sunrise” and City of Stars evokes “sunset,” Pacific Chill is a fragrance inspired by the “seaside.”
This seaside image began when Alex and the perfumer Cavallier were having lunch at the unveiling of City of Stars and discussing what inspired them about LA. For Cavallier, the inspiration LA offered was the Caribbean Sea, with Asia far beyond, and imagining the people who lived there.
As they talked, they decided to create a fragrance based on the “beach.” Incidentally, Alex’s love of hiking in Pacific Palisades while looking out over beautiful ocean views also seems to have played a part.
Even more interestingly, the composition began because, at that lunch, Cavallier happened to be drinking the same juice for the fourth day in a row. Noticing the contrast that “what represented well-being in the seventies has now all become excessive,” Cavallier wondered, “What would happen if I combined carrot, orange and blackcurrant?”
The Birth of a Chill Perfume for Our Times, and My Thoughts on It
The resulting fragrance was named Pacific Chill, combining Jacques Cavallier’s own understanding of “chill,” that “you can relax and truly enjoy yourself without using drugs or anything like that,” with “pacific,” meaning both the Pacific Ocean and peacefulness.
What interests me is that, although it apparently uses neither marine nor ozonic notes, it has a melon-like scent that evokes the seaside, almost like an evolved version of Afternoon Swim.
To speculate about how this seaside scent was created: could the combination of ambrette seed’s soft, ambergris-like musky facet, an abundance of citrus (orange, citron and lemon), and green-smelling blackcurrant be producing a refreshing saltiness like a sea breeze?
Ambrette seed also appears in the bases of the famous Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt and Hermès Épice Marine, creating a salty impression while suggesting soft sunlight. Add mint and you get a mojito-like coolness, putting you in the mood of gazing at a beautiful sea, drink in hand, on a Caribbean beach of gleaming white sand. Bringing a scene before your eyes is the skill of an outstanding perfumer.
Still, perhaps marine notes are actually tucked away in every fragrance in the Les Colognes series. After all, Cavallier made such adept use of marine notes in L’Eau d’Issey.
