The Perfect Scent

"On the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, in a company born nearly two centuries ago, executives from one of the world's most esteemed brands have gathered to address a perfume problem. Hermes, a name synonymous with luxury, desires to surpass its competitors in the most profitable segment of the billion-dollar luxury market. Their secret weapon? Legendary Jean-Claude Ellena, Hermes's recently hired in-house perfumer, the first in the company's history. Ellena's job is to create a fragrance that will rival le monstre - Chanel No. 5 - the perfume that has, for ninety years, dominated sales around the globe. His quest to design a successful perfume with the quality and style of Hermes will lead him to the banks of the Nile as he blends alchemy and art to create Un Jardin sur le Nil." "As the master artisan bottles magic for Hermes, executives from Coty, a $3-billion perfume conglomerate, gather in the conference room of a Manhattan skyscraper to meet Sex in the City star and style icon, Sarah Jessica Parker. Seeking to continue its huge commercial success with celebrity perfumes, Coty has enlisted Parker to lend her star power to a fragrance. Unlike that of many celebrities, though, Parker's role will be much more than a name licensing arrangement. She is, as one insider says, "obsessed with scent." When Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely arrives in stores, every aspect of it - from the fragrance to the package - will bear her artistic imprint." "Journalist and New York Times scent critic Chandler Burr spent an unprecedented year behind the scenes of the perfume industry - one of the most secretive, glamorous, and lucrative in all the realm of luxury goods - and found himself surrounded by these and other surprising, brilliant characters." "The result is a work of long-form reporting on both art and business, a journey through a mysterious and astonishing industry, and a nuanced portrait of two entirely dissimilar people, Jean-Claude Ellena and Sarah Jessica Parker, who had one thing in common: their quest to create the perfect scent."--BOOK JACKET.Burr, Chandler is the author of 'The Perfect Scent' with ISBN 9780805080377 and ISBN 0805080376.