MCM has just released a new eau de parfum. With top notes of fruit, floral heart notes and rich, earthy base notes, MCM’s new fragrance is a new blend that is suitable for everyone, regardless of their gender identity. Created by senior perfumer Clément Gavarry of Firmenich, the Eau de Parfum plays on MCM’s travel heritage and even comes in a small bottle designed in the image of the brand’s beloved leather backpack. Gavarry explains that “tribes of intrepid free thinkers” inspired the new MCM Eau de Parfum, motivating it to “design a lasting blend of classic and modern elements that merge to create an attitude of unbridled optimism and powerful connection.”
With this in mind, MCM has teamed up with an illustrator, artist and designer Kervin Brisseaux to create a personalized work of art based on the scent. Brisseaux was formally trained as an architect, but his art offers much more than that, adding elements of pop culture, music, video games and anime to his dynamic sketches, creating vivid pieces bursting with energy. . Full of hidden gems and ‘Easter eggs’, Brisseaux’s work is graphic and fiery, slowly revealing secret symbols and sophisticated hints upon repeated viewing. For this work inspired by MCM Eau de Parfum, Brisseaux created a mosaic-style design in which several small pieces can stand alone, but also combine to form an exciting whole. Featuring a magical being and sprinkled with MCM motifs, Brisseaux’s mosaic takes viewers on a journey inspired by how MCM’s Eau de Parfum reveals its scent over the course of a day.
To learn more about his work for MCM, Complex recently caught up with Brisseaux for a chat about his life, art, process and inspirations. Take a look, then tap the MCM website to try out its new Eau de Parfum for yourself.
Principium: the beginning
Brisseaux about MCM Eau de Parfum:
“There was a real opportunity to reimagine this package in the universe that I am creating here so that it becomes a reinterpretation of the MCM experience. MCM was kind enough to let me experiment and play with the rules to see how I might find a good balance representing this brand essence.
On the visual narrative:
“I wanted to approach this using one of my main influences: the art of stained glass. When you look at the art of stained glass – forget about the religious connotations that usually apply to it – it is composed in a vivid way. There’s this beautiful narrative that happens when you take a moment, pause, and look at each of the individual parts of the whole. This is what triggered this idea of ​​composing this narrative piece which would be made up of all these different parts. You have all these different characters, all these different elements.
Evocation
On his other influences:
“It’s kind of a mix. There is a style of comic manga illustration infused into it. Then typography, the influence of street fashion, and lots of other things from my childhood that I’m trying to bring back.
On the creation of characters:
“As an illustrator who likes to create a character as the focal point of a lot of my pieces, I knew there would be some sort of main character in that piece as well. So from there I turned to the product, and I knew I wanted the main focal point of the product to be asymmetrical just to make it a little more dynamic. And then the second element is that the character was almost like this web that would connect the rest of the other three or four rooms.
Ferocity
On the MCM Eau de Parfum port:
“When it comes to scent, there’s this beautiful journey that you get in terms of scent. It starts off fierce and quite masculine, and then as the journey continues throughout the day as the scent begins to dissipate it becomes sweeter and more feminine.
On authentic experiences:
“I had to approach this trying not to be too intimidated by MCM’s expectations, but just being honest about my own experience, because at the end of the day I’m the consumer too. So, in many ways, it’s more authentic as a consumer to explain that experience and also have the ability to visually convey it on a canvas, which few other consumers would have.
Heritage
On the MCM logo:
“One of the things that really inspired me is the bay leaves on the MCM logo. Ultimately, that was the starting point for it because if you notice on the main character, on his ear, there’s this earring, which is an Easter egg from that part of the logo. There’s something about that language, that fluidity of the logo and the ribbon and the way those elements almost open up as if they’re open, welcoming arms.
On Easter Eggs:
“I always try to be sensitive to the focal point or the main message, and the main message is the MCM brand. So for that, I looked at this and tried to find times where either, A) I bold and center it or B) I create some sort of anecdotal Easter egg moments that can be dotted throughout this intricate piece. I chose the first because I felt it was nice to have this story that allowed for moments of discovery, especially for an article like this which is editorial.
On the experimental opportunities:
“I think it’s rare to be able to have the opportunity as an artist, especially in the commercial space, to create something so experimental and so free. I think it’s very commendable that brands are willing to experiment in this way.
