Sous le Manteau

SOUS LE MANTEAU
When Olivia Bransbourg discovered a book of French love potions in a Parisian flea market, she was fascinated by the centuries-old recipes. With the help of perfumer Nathalie Feisthauer, they were creatively reincarnated as the exciting niche perfumery house, Sous le Manteau There have been many chapters in the fascinating artistic life of Olivia Bransbourg — but the chapter dedicated to fragrance began in 2009. Founder/editor of an arts and fashion magazine ICONOfly, each issue of which explores the journey of a selected fashion accessory. Over the years, ICONOfly has collaborated with many different artists and creatives — from film-maker David Lynch to chef Pierre Gagnaire. From childhood, Olivia had been passionate about scent — dating back to a gift from her grandmother of 50 miniature fragrances, for her eighth birthday. She learned their names, challenged herself to recognise them by scent alone, and mentally classified them by families or styles (as well as deciding which she liked and disliked).Fast-forward to her magazine days, and Olivia had the idea for an issue themed around bracelets — which included working with perfumers to create a fragrance ‘which would whisper, like a bracelet’. Christine Nagel and Benoist Lapouza were recruited to develop Attache-Moi [Tie me up], as it became, while legendary perfume bottle designer Serge Mansau was invited to give form to this artistic expression, in the form of a limited edition of eight bracelets filled with the perfume. Paris’s famed department store Bon Marché heard about the project and granted Olivia a month-long exhibition, asking if she could create a more affordable version of the scent. But Olivia was bound for new horizons, moving to the United States with her husband, and it wasn’t to be. Or rather, not yet. Because ‘seven or eight months later, after I arrived in the US,’ Olivia told theperfumechronicles.com, ‘Barneys department store called me saying: “We’ve discovered your perfume, it’s exactly what we want. Can we launch it in the US?”’ A whirlwind of activity ensued. A packaging factory in Grasse was found. Enough bottles were made (and sold) to propel Attache-Moi to Barney’s bestsellers’ list in niche perfumery. It seems Olivia was destined to be in the perfume world.