Founded in Oman in 1983, Amouage has long been celebrated for crafting richly layered fragrances that blend Middle Eastern heritage with contemporary perfumery. Known for its artistic storytelling and unique ingredients, the house's latest launch, Love Hibiscus, marks a new addition to the its much-loved Secret Garden collection.
For chief creative officer Renaud Salmon, fragrance is all about emotion and connection. As he opens up about the scent in his Oman office, he lights up while sharing the aim of the concoction. “I want people to feel like special when they smell Love Hibiscus," he explains. “I want them to feel special. There is something very liberated and joyful about it. I want people to feel the preciousness of the moment – how something as simple as smelling a fragrance for the first time can change your day and your mood. A little spark of energy and positivity.”
As the world welcomes the fragrance just in time for summer, Salmon shares the story behind his favourite new fragrance, the experience of collaborating with perfumer Jérôme Epinette and the inspiration that shaped one of Amouage’s most intriguing recent creations.
What was the inspiration behind Love Hibiscus? What is the story behind the fragrance?
The Secret Garden collection at Amouage is full of feminine fragrances. They all take their inspiration from a facet, an aspect, a character of contemporary women. This time the idea was to explore the mysterious aspect of the modern woman a little bit more. Usually, the way we bring those aspects to life is through a fragrance built around a simple accord of two elements, two blocks. One is a floral block and the second one is a sweet or gourmand block. We always pair a flower and a gourmand note. I wanted to create a duo that conveys mystery – an exciting, light-hearted mystery. The flower came first.
One day in Muscat, I realised I was surrounded by hibiscus flowers on my commute. They are big, bold and bright, yet they have this fragile, crepe-like texture. I loved the duality of that. Interestingly, hibiscus flowers themselves don’t smell much. But if you infuse them in water, they reveal this vivid, tart quality – slightly berry-like with a touch of acidity. That contrast fascinated me.
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For the gourmand element, I went back to childhood memories. My mother was a cooking teacher and she was always baking. She used to make little caramelised pastries shaped like hearts from pâte feuilletée – something that later I realised resembled palmier pastries. I thought about dipping that pastry into hibiscus infusion and imagined the taste – sweet, slightly caramelised, paired with that tart red-berry character of hibiscus. Coincidentally, ‘palmier’ means palm tree, and Oman is full of palm trees. One day I took a photo of a hibiscus blooming under a palm tree and thought: this is the formula of the fragrance.
For Love Hibiscus, you collaborated with Jérôme Epinette. What was it like working together?
First of all, I think there is always a little bit of me in every Amouage fragrance. But Amouage is not about me – it’s about the values of Amouage. So whenever I find inspiration in something personal, I try to extrapolate from it. What is it that will resonate with everyone? In this case, it became that nostalgic feeling of comforting childhood.
Jérôme is the perfumer and I am the creative director, so our roles are very defined. I don’t blend ingredients, but I bring the stories and inspirations. He takes that inspiration and turns it into something that smells good and is technically excellent – long-lasting, diffusive and beautifully composed. I love working with Jérôme because we've known each other for a long time. We were both in New York years ago. I think he has an incredible ability to create fragrances that feel very exquisite and elevated, but also instantly pleasant. It’s something you recognise as refined, yet it quickly feels like part of you.
What was the biggest challenge of working in a collaboration?
One is that he loves expensive ingredients – everything becomes very luxurious! But the real challenge was that we worked quite remotely on this creation. I used to see him very often when we were both in New York, but this fragrance was developed mostly through three meetings and then a lot of exchanges in between.
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In French we call it a relation épistolaire – a relationship by letter. There was something very old-school about sending samples back and forth. It felt like scented love letters. At first it was a challenge, but it also became very special. The samples would arrive while I was travelling, and I would have to wait to smell them. It brought back the magic of anticipation.
How long did it take to finalise Love Hibiscus?
Maybe around two to three years. I didn’t count exactly. Of course, I wasn’t working on it every single day. But I remember spending a summer with one of the early versions of the fragrance. Those memories are now anchored to the scent. Every time I smell it, I go back to that summer two years ago. It’s quite magical.
The bottle colour is unusually bold for Amouage. Why did you choose this shade?
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I work a lot with moodboards and this one was created by Maria from my team. It captured the crepe-like texture of the hibiscus flower, the idea of infusion and also a sense of softness and fragility. Colour-wise, a deep matte red automatically has a feminine quality to me. It reminds me of beautiful lipsticks. At the same time, I didn’t want something too glossy or hermetic. There is always something a little raw or earthy in Amouage fragrances – even in Love Hibiscus, there is frankincense and cypriol. So the colour had to balance boldness with that Amouage identity.
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How would you describe the Love Hibiscus woman?
I would say mysterious, vivacious and full of contrast.
