Dior’s New Look Perfume Is a Love Letter to Couture

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The reign of Francis Kurkdjian, perfume creation director at Parfums Christian Dior, is well under way. Last year saw the release of J’adore l’Or, his modern interpretation of one of the house’s most iconic scents. And Kurkdjian’s latest launch, New Look eau de parfum, is a state of mind as much as it is a fragrance. “It provides a lens for observing and reinterpreting the world,” he tells Bazaar of the amber scent, named for the designer’s 1947 debut collection.

With the 2024 edition of New Look, Kurkdjian wants to tie the brand’s beauty offerings back into its couture roots. “To be true to Christian Dior, who wanted his perfume to provide an olfactory reflection of his couture, I wanted to continue that perfect synergy between couture and fragrance, in a completely audacious style,” Kurkdjian says. “I therefore aimed to create a perfume that echoes the spirit, the nuances, and the essence of today’s New Look.” The scent uses elevated raw materials to help convey that larger message. It also marks a new chapter of innovation for the perfumer in Dior’s La Collection Privée, after working closely with the house for over two years.

Just as shape, structure, and sketching are important in fashion, Kurkdjian explains, they are equally essential when crafting a fragrance. While brainstorming how to update the existing versions of New Look perfume, he took inspiration from one of his favorite pairs of cashmere joggers—from Dior, naturally—which he says exemplify the perfect combination of luxury and everyday comfort.

“The way [Christian Dior] envisioned building a dress through the line and silhouette was very important. And as a perfumer, it’s also very important—you have to learn the basics. Learning the basics as a perfumer is basically like learning music: the salsa, samba, or cha-cha—there’s a rhythm between the notes. We can build a parallel within perfumery on how notes can be put together to create shape for us.”

New Look 2024 features a blend of aldehyde C-12 MNA, frankincense extract, and white amber notes that make it much darker and earthier than the floral and feminine fragrance update that preceded it. Kurkdjian partnered aldehyde—a versatile ingredient that is one of his favorites—with a hint of incense for a cleaner scent.

“I combined raw materials that have multiple fresh, effusive, supple, and sensual facets,” he says. “I created a composition that honors the beauty of an amber fragrance reinvented through original and audacious fresh notes. A classic cut and bold choice of raw materials are reorchestrated, and seemingly deconstructed here, to express a new type of sensuality.”

The layered fragrance is housed simply in a clear glass bottle with a black top, like other scents from La Collection Privée, but displayed with houndstooth backdrop that signifies its connection to Dior’s accessories and apparel.

With the new New Look, Kurkdjian has also debuted more of himself as the house’s perfume creative director. He says he considers La Collection Privée as more of a playground where he can explore and invent, in comparison to the “bigger masterpieces” he works on, like J’adore l’Or.

“I would say it’s my intimate dialogue between the House of Dior and Dior itself,” Kurkdjian says. “More than ever before, the idea of being a couturier-perfumer, as Christian Dior liked to define himself, is extremely meaningful. The structure of garment mirrors the composition of a perfume, and the flow of a fabric reflects the constraints of raw materials. Each new creation that I compose explores the history of our house, its imaginary worlds, its values, and the aesthetic codes of its heritage, transposed into our era.”

Dior’s New Look eau de parfum is available starting at $330 at dior.com.

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