Unveiling Barenia: A journey into the mystique of the Hermes woman

“I realised she carried her beauty the same way she carried that leather bag: with a carefree sense of oneness. I now knew for certain that I could not photograph this woman, that she would remain impervious to all attempts at capture. Because she brought life to the space, transformed it, swept me up in her wake. Because she was not a model. She was a phenomenon,” are the closing lines of famed French writer Maria Pourchet’s short story, written exclusively for Hermès to capture the essence of their latest fragrance: Barénia.

Crafted by Christine Nagel, the house's creative director, Barénia is a unique creation that aims to encapsulate the essence of Hermès's woman through its careful and thoughtful expression. “The Hermès woman is driven by curiosity. Guided by her instincts, her sidesteps are never missteps,” explains Nagel. And much like the Hermès woman, this fragrance, too, has been elusive, instinctive and purposeful. The House’s first chypre fragrance, Barénia has been ten years in the making, and my, has the wait has been worth it.

Derived from the French word for Cyprus, once the centre of a booming perfume trade, the chypre is one of the world’s most complex and mysterious olfactive families that blends contrasting notes of citrus, floral, wood, moss, and musk to create a uniquely sensual concoction and one that is notoriously hard create. For over a decade, Nagel has worked tirelessly to construct, sculpt and hone a captivating chypre that befits the Hermès woman. In Barénia, she combines the delicate butterfly lily from Madagascar, in what is reportedly the first time this spicy-yet-elegant flower has been seen in a feminine fragrance, with the miracle berry, a unique ingredient that is said to make bitter flavours taste sweet. This is then fused with a warm trail of oakwood and intense patchouli. The result? A multi-layered, mesmerising fragrance that feels decidedly luxurious, and where fruity opening notes give way to a lingering warmth that almost cocoons the skin the longer it stays on.

A remarkable feat for someone who once didn’t quite belong in the closeted and rarefied world of luxury fragrances. “I’m not from Grasse, and I’m not the daughter of a perfumer”, Nagel once posited, referring to the challenges she had to overcome to get to where she is. But thanks to a combination of sheer perseverance and a little luck (she has synesthesia, a rare neurological condition that mixes the senses and allows her to ‘see’ and ‘feel’ scents), she was able to work her way up through the industry, eventually joining Hermès in 2014 as Director of Olfactive Creation before taking over as sole in-house perfumer in 2016.

It's appropriate then that the name and presentation also exude this resilience and strength: Barénia is a signature calf leather often used in the brand’s coveted Birkin bags. Known for its fine and supple texture, it is said to caress the skin as it moves with the body. A metaphor, if you will, of the Hermès chypre which, once absorbed by one’s skin, is made indescribably one’s own. Its presentation, too, is unique and decisively Hermès.

Created by designer Philippe Mouquet, a longstanding partner of the house, Barénia’s elliptical crystal-clear bottle is overlaid with a metal plate bearing contoured studs and domed facets, echoing the lines of the House’s Collier de Chien bracelet. Whilst eye-catching, what’s important to note is its history: The Collier de Chien was inspired by the original dog collars that Hermès Sellier once produced. A bold and striking combination of leather and metal, these bracelets were adopted by women in the Roaring Twenties to assert their independence and show their strength. And, whilst over the last 100 years, this instantly recognisable design has adorned bags, accessories and objects, today, for the first time, it has been transposed onto a perfume bottle.

It is this attention to detail combined with Nagel’s unique approach to perfumery (she often goes against the grain of traditional feminine perfumers who tend towards more saccharine notes) that sets her apart. In fact, she can be credited for many of the brand’s most popular perfumes, including Gallop, which blends masculine leather with delicate rose and Twilly d’Hermès, with its surprising notes of ginger melded with tuberose and sandalwood. Perhaps it is no surprise that she would attempt (and succeed) in bottling the feminine essence. Maybe it is, in fact, Nagel who is the true phenomenon.