Hermès launches a new fragrance inspired in the backwaters of Kerala

In 2008 Hermès is celebrating India and expressing aspects of that country through each of its crafts. With this perfume, Jean-Claude Ellena invites us on s poetic journey to discover an unexpected view of India in a particular region and season.

Un jardin après la Mousson sees India in an unusual light and arouses new emotions. The monsoon sweeps aside preconceptions and stock images, whisking away the chaos of smells. By giving back what the sun has taken from earth, it drives out the scorching breath of drought. Every year it marks India's renewal.

The story of Un Jardin après la Mousson has its source in Kerala, at the heart of the network of rivers and canals known as the backwaters, where earth and water become indistinguishable in a luxuriant natural setting. It is an expression of nature itself, living and breathing, when the veil of cloud tears open to reveal the newfound sun, the earth saturated with water, the dazzling green of young leaves. A time when colours and smells are at their clearest, their sharpest, their purest.

During his travels in India, Jean-Claude Ellena came across a plethora of fragrances, tastes, scents and savours. In that apparent complexity, laden with signs and symbols, he chose the serene essence of nature being reborn. In his quest for impalpable, transparent freshness, for tender and delicate emotions, he remembered ginger-flavored lemonade with a slightly peppery smell and taste, acidified with a few drops of lime.

He set aside hot, potent spices, to favour the smells of vegetation, the impressions of water and cooler spices. Selected cardamom, coriander and pepper for their spontaneity and subtlety. He was seduced by the watery smoothness of Kahili Ginger like white butterflies. Then he toyed with the earthy green vetiver that Indians weave together and attach in window to perfume their houses.

Moist greenery, watery sweetness, grassy sap.He has brought together every expression of garden after the monsoon. Un Jardin après la Mousson, a vegetable, floral, spicy perfume for men and women alike.

"The deluge has ended. Black clouds have given way to calm, serene blue. The canals are now mirror-like. The suffocating air has become perfume. Outside at last, I can explore it with my nose. The great garden breathes. Trees stand tall once more. Leaves are suffused with green again. Grass flitters. Young shoots appear. A mud-colored frog leaps from leaf to leaf. Flowers unfold their corollas of petals. Water brings alive the colder scents and captures the more opulent ones. Fragrance is reborn, vivid, clear, moist. It is this welcoming garden that I have put in a bottle."