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Opium (perfume)

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Opium
Brand logo
Fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent
CategoryOriental-spicy[1]
Designed forWomen
Top notesMandarin orange, plum, clove, coriander, pepper, bay leaf
Heart notesJasmine, rose, lily of the valley, carnation, cinnamon, peach, orris root
Base notesSandalwood, cedarwood, myrrh, opopanax, labdanum, benzoin resin, castoreum, amber, musk, patchouli, tolu balsam, vetiver
Released1977[2]
LabelYves Saint Laurent
Perfumer(s)Jean Amic, Jean-Louis Sieuzac
ConcentrationEau de toilette, eau de parfum
Tagline"A spicy ambery harmony for extreme sensuality"
Flanker(s)
Flanker fragrances
  • Opium pour Homme
  • Belle d'Opium
  • Black Opium
PredecessorEau Libre
SuccessorParis
WebsiteOpium Eau de Toilette (YSL)

Opium is an Oriental-spicy perfume for women, created for the French fashion house Yves Saint Laurent by perfumers Jean Amic and Jean-Louis Sieuzac. Introduced to the market in 1977, Opium quickly generated publicity with its controversial name and the ensuing press coverage helped to increase its sales. In late 2000, an advertising campaign for the product featured English model Sophie Dahl, whose nudity and bodily expressions in the advertisement were met with mixed reactions internationally.

The top notes of Opium are a mixture of fruits and spices, with mandarin orange,[a] plum, clove, coriander and pepper,[2] as well as bay leaf.[3] Its floral middle notes consist predominantly jasmine, rose and lily of the valley,[2] in addition to carnation, cinnamon, peach and orris root.[3] It is underlined by the sweet woody base note containing sandalwood, cedarwood, myrrh, opopanax, labdanum, benzoin resin and castoreum,[2] in addition to amber, musk, patchouli, tolu balsam and vetiver.[3]

Naming and theme

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Opium caused a stir with its controversial name and brought accusations that the brand designer Yves Saint Laurent was condoning drug use.[4] In the United States, a group of Chinese Americans demanded a change of the name and a public apology from Saint Laurent for "his insensitivity to Chinese history and Chinese American concerns." They formed a committee called the American Coalition Against Opium and Drug Abuse, which expressed outrage at the choice of a name representing "a menace that destroyed many lives in China."[5] However, the ensuing press coverage helped to increase the sales, with the perfume soon becoming a best-selling product.[3]

For its promotional U.S. launch party in 1978, the German ship Peking—named after the Chinese city of Beijing—was rented from the South Street Seaport Museum and draped with colorful banners, the well-known American novelist Truman Capote sitting at its helm at the event.[3] Peking, along with a 1,000-pound (450 kg) bronze statue of the Buddha that was decorated with white cattleya orchids, displayed the supposed Eastern theme of the perfume at the party.[3] The brand conveyed the theme into the red plastic container holding the perfume's glass vial, which Pierre Dinand designed based on inro—the small Japanese lacquered cases that were worn hanging from the obi and held perfumes, herbs and medicines.[6][7]

Opium, Lilac Perfume Oil and White Musk from The Body Shop, Juniper Breeze from Bath & Body Works and Royal Secret formerly Germaine Monteil were among the perfumes tested in 2003 in a study of the relationship of scents to memory.[8]

Advertising campaign controversy

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A poster advertising campaign for the perfume caused another controversy in October–November 2000. It featured English model Sophie Dahl lying on her back naked except for a necklace, a bracelet and a pair of stiletto heels, with her eyes closed, seemingly in the throes of ecstasy, and her legs spread apart as she covers one of her nipples with her hand, leaving the other exposed.[9][10] This advertising campaign, photographed by Steven Meisel, was widely seen in print advertisements and posters in bus shelters across many countries. It won an award in Spain[11] but was met with negative reactions in some places, particularly in the United Kingdom. The British Advertising Standards Authority received more than 700 complaints from the public, and ordered the posters to be withdrawn on the grounds that they were too sexually suggestive, degrading to women, and likely to cause "serious or widespread offence".[12][10] American journalist Susan Faludi argued that certain perfume advertising campaigns pushed "idealization of weak yielding women" to the extreme, citing the Opium advertisement as a primary example.[13]

Opium pour Homme

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YSL launched the male complement Opium pour Homme in 1995, created by Jacques Cavallier of Firmenich.[14] Its main note is set by vanilla, with black currant, galangal, star anise, ginger and pepper, fusing with base notes of cedar and Tolu balsam. Its flask was designed by Jérôme Failliant-Dumas.[14]

Commercials

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In 1992 and 1999, U.S. film director David Lynch created commercials for Opium.[15]

Notes

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  1. ^ Jan Moran lists "hesperides" instead.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Moran, Jan (2000). Fabulous Fragrances II : A Guide to Prestige Perfumes for Women and Men. Crescent House. p. 32. ISBN 0-9639065-4-2.
  2. ^ a b c d Groom, Nigel (1997). New Perfume Handbook - Second Edition. Springer. p. 236. ISBN 0-7514-0403-9.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Moran, Jan (2000). Fabulous Fragrances II : A Guide to Prestige Perfumes for Women and Men. Crescent House. p. 170. ISBN 0-9639065-4-2.
  4. ^ Agence France-Presse (1 June 2008). "Fashion giant Yves Saint Laurent dies at 71". Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  5. ^ Friedman, Monroe (1999). Consumer Boycotts: Effecting Change Through the Marketplace and the Media. Routledge. p. 145. ISBN 0-415-92457-X.
  6. ^ "Histoire de parfum : Opium". Cosmopolitan (in French). Hearst Corporation. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  7. ^ Moran, Jan (2000). Fabulous Fragrances II : A Guide to Prestige Perfumes for Women and Men. Crescent House. p. 171. ISBN 0-9639065-4-2.
  8. ^ Herz, Rachel S.; James Eliassen; Sophia Beland; Timothy Souza (2004). "Neuroimaging evidence for the emotional potency of odor-evoked memory". Neuropsychologia. 42 (3). Elsevier: 371–378. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2003.08.009. PMID 14670575. S2CID 3918680.
  9. ^ Opium advertisement, Yves Saint Laurent, at The Sophie Dahl Gallery
  10. ^ a b Carter, Cynthia (2003). Violence and the Media. Open University Press. p. 126. ISBN 0-335-20505-4.
  11. ^ Forden, Sara G. (2001). The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed. Harper Paperbacks. p. 340. ISBN 0-06-093775-0.
  12. ^ "'Offensive' Opium posters to be removed, The Guardian - December 19, 2000". TheGuardian.com. 19 December 2000. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  13. ^ Faludi, Susan (1992). Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. Anchor. p. 208. ISBN 0-385-42507-4.
  14. ^ a b Groom, Nigel (1997). New Perfume Handbook - Second Edition. Springer. p. 237. ISBN 0-7514-0403-9.
  15. ^ Rodley, Chris (2005). Lynch on Lynch. Faber & Faber. p. 309. ISBN 0-571-22018-5.
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