Tourism News

The latest perfume by Hermes, the French high fashion house, draws its inspiration from the Kerala monsoon. Hermes, known for its luxury perfume and celebrity clients, launched Un Jardin après la mousson (a garden after the monsoon) to the global market to coincide with the start of the Kerala monsoon period.

Hermes’s in house perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena who spent several weeks in Kerala to capture a new fragrance for Hermes said instead of going for a spicy interpretation of India, he decided to bring out the cooler, quieter facets of Kerala. In keeping with the region’s fame for its cool greenery the latest fragrance favours cool spices like cardamom, coriander and pepper with a hint of ginger flower.

The splendour of the monsoon is captured in a classic two toned blue-green bottle recalling the clouds of the monsoon and the vivid green of nature reborn. The packaging is a playful take on nature – featuring elephants, monkeys and birds taking refuge under a canopy.

The global launch of the Kerala inspired perfume is part of Hermes’s India theme as the French group makes its entry into the Indian market. Hermes’s spring summer collection– ‘Hermes Orange Indian Pink’ is also inspired by India, as is the new face of Hermes, Lakshmi Menon.

Secretary of Kerala Tourism, Dr Venu said that this was the first time that Hermes has developed a fragrance based on an Indian destination. “This is an exciting concept for us, to see fashion gain inspiration from the lushness of the monsoon rains. The monsoon in Kerala is traditionally considered bounty time and Hermes has conjured a perfume that is a serene expression of nature’s rebirth.
In the last two years Kerala Tourism has been marketing the monsoon season as dream season. Its latest dream season campaign captures the magic of the monsoon in a bottle, an idea that has obviously caught on.