It was 20 years ago that Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin took a photograph of a young girl named Kirsten, inspiring Byredo’s Ben Gorham to create an olfactory snapshot of the image bottled in their 2013 fragrance collaboration, called 1996. In celebration of the face that launched a thousand perfume spritzes, Gorham, Lamsweerde, and Matadin came together again to host a dinner on Thursday evening at Le Turtle in New York—to fete the release of a new holiday collector’s box featuring the scent. Among the mix of fashion, beauty, and design luminaries who turned out for the occasion were Adam Selman, Opening Ceremony’s Carol Lim and Humberto Leon, Vogue’s Celia Ellenberg, and model Anja Rubik. All the guests were greeted by subtle notes of juniper berries and violet juxtaposed with black amber and patchouli, courtesy of the 1996 candles on display.
“People use fragrance for different reasons, sometimes to express personality and sometimes to project aspirations,” Gorham said over cocktails. “Fragrance, like fashion, has the ability to let you be someone else and express something completely different—it’s quite subjective.” Offering one such interpretation was Rubik, who paired her Saint Laurent leather jacket and Iro trousers with a splash of 1996. “I’m always drawn to woodsy scents,” Rubik said. “They’re a bit heavier, so I like to wear them when I’m going to an event that’s more formal and upscale.” The three-course meal that came next was just as complex and full of flavor. Plates of romaine salad with garlic confit were followed by grilled wagyu in an oyster-brie emulsion; bowls of hazelnut financier and mint sorbet were served family-style for dessert. The final treat came in the form of gift bags with the 1996 collection (including the soon-to-be-released 100 ml size), offering a dose of spicy smoke that promised to last well beyond the party.
