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Post by Ainslie Walker

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Hello gorgeous APJ people! I have some local Sydney fragrant goings ons to share with you today:

You have to be very swift if you wish to chat to Sydney based, floral artist, Saskia Havekes about any particular project, as the minute she completes one she dives head first into the next. I find her humble, inspirational and extremely driven. Beautiful in both looks and personality, I always enjoy and feel privileged for the times I’ve popped into her “flower cave,” Grandiflora in Potts Point for a catchup.

Queen Of The Night by Grandiflora 2016

Queen Of The Night by Bertrand Duchaufour

Saskia Havekes of Grandiflora – A Head Spinning Catch Up and a new fragrance!!

Later this month Saskia will travel to France where she will release Grandiflora’s fourth fragrance – Queen Of The Night by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. BERTRAND DUCHAUFOUR!! My mind boggled at how she came about working with one of my (and many of your) favourite perfumers: “ I made contact with Bertrand on a bended knee after I was formally introduced to him by by a dear mutual friend in Cabris. He had heard of our work and of course I always loved his Calamus he created for Comme des Garcons…..An all time favorite of mine” said Saskia.

The transient Queen of the Night flowers open for only 1 hour at night and are rumoured to be a very strong aphrodisiacs, hypnotic, “stirring up the loins.”(Oh my!!) After it flowers, it is spent, thus it is a real privilege to experience it – both the scent and visually. Late night parties do occur to observe the flowers bloom – attending one is now firmly on my bucket list!

Saskia is behind the enlightening floral artistry within the pages of Michael Edwards – Fragrances Of The World, 2016 guidebook, releasing this month. Her partner, Gary Heery is a renowned photographer and together they truly have made magic happen, ensuring every composition is emotive and captivates. The pictures tell the story of each fragrance-family group. Saskia uses her materials – flowers, woods, greenery, spices, honey and more, just like a painter, focused on colours and textures. Materials are overlapped, teased and made prominent. Increased attention to space and light around the materials was given, compared to the dense nature of the beautiful work she did for Fragrances Of The World 2013 guidebook.

Last month I was lucky to work with Saskia and her team as part of Australian fashion label, Aje’s Sydney Fashion Week show at Carriageworks, Sydney. It was my job to fill the huge space with Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine fragrance, creating an unexpected and much talked about scented ambience for the runway – a first for Sydney fashion week!

In April, Grandiflora released their first candles, Madagascan Jasmine and Queen Of The Night, collaborating with France’s oldest candlemakers, Cire Truden. Both are encased in gold dipped, Italian porcelain vessels and housed in beautiful Magnolia Grandiflora packaging and available from the Grandiflora store and online.

Busy, right?! What an incredible woman and just so great for us she is Sydney based. I’ll be back soon with some more on the Queen of the Night launch in France later this month and hopefully a giveaway or two! In the meantime I think we should all be rushing to find some of these incredible plants so we can all experience the magic of the Queen of the Night in bloom! Have any of you experienced this phenomenon?

Until next time,
Ainslie XX