L'Interdit 2018, Givenchy

Givenchy’s ‘L’interdit’ is created by Dominic Ropion, Anne Flippo and Fanny Bal and features accords of cherry, tuberose, caramel, vanilla and vetiver. If I wanted to describe the scent in a concise manner, I would say that it smells like a few kilos of Morello cherries dipped into a vat of ‘La vie est belle’.

Unfortunately, I so very much wanted to like this. For one, the advertising campaign features the lovely, ethereally beautiful Rooney Mara. It is also a relaunch of the 1957 classic of the same name, created for Audrey Hepburn to, at first, wear exclusively. The original, which was a girly aldehydic floral, bares absolutely no resemblance to the new scent though, besides a passing reference to the original bottle. So, why call it L’Interdit ('the forbidden’, allegedly because Audrey Hepburn forbade Hubert de Givenchy from making it commercially available, so only she could wear it)? 

Ropion is capable of beautiful creations - see everything he has done for Frederic Malle. “Carnal Flower” in particular is considered to be the quintessential tuberose scent and a modern classic. It is when he crosses from niche - where he is obviously given ample budget and artistic freedom - to the constraints of the highly commercial, that Ropion’s perfumes undergo a slight mutation. His signature is still there and technically, a perfume will be quite tightly and expertly put together. The creation cannot be faulted on a professional level. Perfumery though, above all else, is an art. And Ropion’s commercial constructs, be it Armani ‘Code’, Lancome ‘La Vie est Belle’ or in this case Givenchy ‘l’Interdit’, lack soul. To put it more mildly, they lack a point of view. Who is this scent for? A professional woman? Too sweet. A teenager? Though gourmand, too heavy. On the night out? Too cloying to be sexy. A perfume enthusiast? Too boring. Then again ‘La vie est belle’ bottles are selling like hot cakes, so I am obviously wrong and there is a huge market for this kind of thing. 

There are positive attributes of course, and I would be remiss in not mentioning them. ‘L’interdit’ has monumental silage and longevity; though that is only a good thing if you actually like it.

Books and Perfume final verdict: 4/10