The Sweet (and Cool) Smell

of Pop Art

in Andy Warhol Union Square by Bond No. 9


         

          “My favorite smell is the first smell of spring in New York,” Andy Warhol once said.  Perhaps in a similar spirit, Warhol began painting and silk-screening a series of highly stylized, phantasmagorically colored flowers during the 1960s.  He returned to this age-old painter’s subject in 1970, when he developed a portfolio of vibrantly colored flower screenprints at the first of his two studios on Union Square.  Both the florals and the location were the inspiration for Andy Warhol Union Square, the latest in Bond No. 9’s series of collectible Warhol eaux de parfum, arriving on counter in March, 2008.

          The scent, a seductive green floral that’s simultaneously cool and warm, is housed in the slim Bond No. 9 superstar flacon, this time displaying Warhol’s flowers as its surface design.  Outsize, otherworldly flowers such as these are of course a major fashion statement for spring 2008—with multitudes of designers taking their cue from the Warhol Flowers series.  Likewise, Bond No. 9’s Andy Warhol Union Square is in tune with the times (as perfumes should be).  But let us go one further and propose that this latest scent of ours, enveloped in Warhol’s iconic flower motif, raises the art of perfumery to—dare we say it?—a new level of sophistication. 


The Fragrance

          Let’s start with the scent itself.  While most floral fragrances just hint at cool, and vice versa, this one is an ambi-sexual, daringly balanced mix of sweet and cool.  Sometimes the gentle scent of lily of the valley seems about to prevail, looped together with blue freesia, golden amber, and animal musk to enhance its sensuality.  At other times, crunchy green-stem notes and white birch wood are poised to turn this scent into one of pure, clean energy.  But then the sweetness and the coolness merge, and stay merged.   


The Bottle/Warhol’s Flowers on Display

          Now let’s take a look at the bottle.  Its surface design places Warhol’s artistry in a new medium:  the surface of the sculpted glass perfume flacon.  We present fuchsia, red and yellow colored flowers with blue colored blades of grass.  Like nothing found in nature, these flowers remain on the two-dimensional plane.  They are like psychedelic paper cut-outs superimposed above the blades of grass, which have an outsized life of their own.  Yet the two coalesce in the overall composition, just as the scent’s floral and green notes merge in their own artistic composition.

         

          Like New York and all the U.S., Bond No. 9 is going green. And we need your help to get it done. Just bring your empty perfume bottles—ours or anyone else’s—to Bond No. 9 boutiques and Bond No. 9 perfume counters at Saks Fifth Avenue nationwide. We’ll take care of the rest. And by way of an eco-friendly thank-you, we’ll give you a refillable pocket spray. Free with any purchase.

          Available in 100 ml and 50ml flacons, Andy Warhol Union Square will be available at Bond No. 9’s four New York boutiques, www.bondno9.com, 877.273.3369, and at Saks Fifth Avenue nationwide.

 

Launch Date:  March 15, 2008

Suggested Retail Price: $195 for 100ml; $135 for 50ml

         

          And for the serious collector who desires complete Warhol series (Is there any other way to collect?): We present a Portfolio of ten different bottles.  They are meant to be viewed as one, as Warhol intended for his Flowers.  Launch date: March 2008.  Suggested retail price: $1500 for ten 100ml bottles.

         

          Or: In the Mother’s Day nick of time, a new level of luxe.  A bottle of Union Square wrapped with a limited-edition Robert Lee Morris Warhol-inspired Flowers necklace in sterling silver.  Launch date: April 2008.  Suggested retail price: $575 for a 100ml bottle and a 36” Robert Lee Morris necklace.

 

Warhol’s Union Square

          The second of our Warhol collectibles is named for the environs of the two Union Square studios that the artist and his crew successively occupied during 1968-1984—his years of notoriety.  It was at these downtown locations Warhol created the Mao paintings, the commissioned portraits of the rich and famous, and his portfolio of 10 Flowers screenprints.

          Marking the junction of Broadway and Park Avenue South between 14th and 17th Streets, Union Square and the park within it have a storied history as a choice location for outdoor public gatherings—notably labor union rallies from the early years of the 20th century. These days, Union Square is thriving, with a busy Greenmarket selling fresh flowers. 

          However, the area was in a state of deterioration when Warhol established his base at 33 Union Square West, on the corner of East 16th Street, in 1968.  He stayed put, despite an attempt on his life on the street outside his studio later that year, though in 1974 he relocated across the park to 860 Broadway, on the corner of 18th Street.  There, the Warhol Factory in Union Square would remain until 1984.  During the age of Warhol, Union Square witnessed both the collisions and the coming together of uptown and downtown.  After all, it was Warhol who drew the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Brigitte Bardot, Mick Jagger, Halston, Truman Capote, and Diane von Furstenberg to his studio.

 

Warhol and Perfume

 “Another way to take up more space is with perfume.  I really love wearing perfume,” Warhol remarked.  What’s more, “for an iconic time, perfume is a way to see and be seen,” adds Bond No. 9’s president, Laurice Rahme.  “We were attracted to Bond No 9’s creative approach to luxury perfumery which celebrates New York City,” said Michael Hermann, director of licensing at The Andy Warhol Foundation. “Working with Bond No. 9 represents a unique, unexpected, and exciting opportunity to introduce Warhol to an ever-widening audience.”  The connecting point between the Warhol Foundation and Bond No. 9 is New York.  If Andy Warhol was a mirror of his time, he also reflected the vitality and creativity of his adopted city—exactly what Bond No. 9 is about.  With the Warhol collaboration, Bond No. 9 takes it as its mission to enhance the artist’s dynamic by connecting his vision not just with a line of fragrances, but with another kind of artistry—that of the sense of smell, and to interpret for today the scents of the studios, the clubs, the streets of New York that Warhol frequented and made famous.


About The Andy Warhol Foundation

          As the preeminent American artist of the 20th Century, Andy Warhol challenged the world to see art differently.  The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. is a New York not-for-profit corporation established in 1987 which promotes the visual arts.  In accordance with Andy Warhol's will, its mission is the advancement of the visual arts. The Foundation's objective is to foster innovative artistic expression and the creative process by encouraging and supporting cultural organizations that in turn, directly or indirectly, support artists and their work.  The Foundation has given out over 1,700 cash grants totaling more than $70 million. For more information, visit, www.warholfoundation.org.


About Bond No. 9

          In business for four years, Bond No. 9 is an edgy downtown perfumery, committed to designing artisanal scented evocations of the neighborhoods and streets of New York—from Riverside Drive to Chinatown to Coney Island.   An impassioned client base advises us on which parts of town they’d like us to do next.  Our Warhol series of collectibles, beginning with Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory (introduced last year) will celebrate the New York locales this late 20th century artist made his own.