LALIQUE presents its new fragrance for men L'INSOUMIS: the scent of a free spirit

Charismatic, elegant, authentic… L’Insoumis doesn’t follow trends: he creates them. With its new fragrance for men, the Lalique House salutes the bold spirit of René Lalique. I attended the launch event of the fragrance in Zurich where I had the oppurtunity to discover the scent and have a feeling of the ingredients. As always the fragrance is fab!

 Just like the artist, who broke free from convention to revolutionize the art of jewelry, glass-making and perfumery, L’Insoumis ( “the maverick” in French) is independent and self-confident, unconventional and pioneering: a true modern-day adventurer. 

The stylized unfurling fern adorning the bottle expresses this free spirit. A recurring theme in the work of René Lalique, showcased in 1926 with his iconic “Tourbillons” vase, the design remains extremely contemporary. The fern motif is a perfect expression of the perpetual motion between past and present embodied by the bottle and the fragrance. A force for change and rebirth, magnified by the artist’s vision.

The advertising campaign for L’Insoumis takes us into the heart of a mysterious forest, between sunlight and mist, to reveal the free, unconventional spirit of the man who wears it.

A perfect balance between abstract and the figurative, the bottle of L’Insoumis plays on the contrast between streamlined modernism and the opulent luxuriance of its motif: an unfurling fern whose stylized curves evoke the lush vegetation of a mysterious forest.

Sculpted in relief, this graphic pattern decorates the black glass flanks of L’Insoumis’ transparent bottle in a beautiful the Art Deco style.

A satin-finish black cap, adorned with slender ridges and crowned with a silver plaque bearing Lalique’s “Hirondelles” emblem, adds a final, sophisticated touch to the design. The “Hirondelles” logo is reprised in silver on the top of the box.

To be in perfect accord with the bottle, which subtly evokes nature and wide-open spaces through the swirling fern pattern, the fragrance called for a sillage that veered off the beaten path.
Fabrice Pellegrin, the perfumer, selected the purest, most expressive essences of the masculine perfume palette.
Impulsive, intense and unexpected, basil announces L’Insoumis’ assertive personality in the top notes; its great, soaring green freshness is enhanced by bergamot, with a burning, velvety lash of rum acting as a stunning counterpoint. A quintessentially virile lavender and clary sage accord, typical of the fougère family, offers its powerful aromatic heart to the fragrance. A shot of black pepper fires up its bracing, yet suave and powdery facets. L’Insoumis’s strength asserts itself even more potently in the dry-down notes while a streamlined patchouli heart unfolds an unexpected softness, with herbaceous and subtly leathery facets. Boosted by the woody energy of vetyver, it extends the scent of L’Insoumis into an endlessly captivating trail.