For Acne Studios’s First Fragrance, Frédéric Malle Tapped The Youngest Nose Yet

Johansson agrees that the work, not age or gender, mattered. “For me it was just the most interesting route from all aspects,” he says of choosing Le Helley’s accord out of all of the options, and playing an accidental role in “the underdog” element of this story. “I really adore what Frédéric does, how he’s been promoting the noses,” he says, adding that he was already wearing his perfumes when a letter from Malle arrived on his desk inviting him for coffee in Paris last year. It took less than 8 months and hundreds of fragrance trials to come up with the final version inspired by visual references Johansson sent to Malle, like Ingmar Berman’s film Person, neoclassical Swedish Grace design, and a summer house from his childhood with a certain pastel glow (the same pink shade that Malle painted on the base of the bottle to tint the fragrance without artificial dyes). “It had to be light, it had to be fresh and crispy, but without being citrus and sporty,” says Johansson. “This sort of kitchy, slight softener touch to the classical foundation was related to fashion, and also to something very comfortable and secure that still would feel new, as I really love.”

The smell of fresh laundry is the first to hit from the scent, and Malle points out that fabric softeners have their own classical roots. “What people don’t know is that many of those fabric softener scents are inspired by classic French perfumery,” he says, calling out “very comfortable, very clean, very crisp” connotations in peoples’ minds. “The warm feeling that an Acne scarf can give,” is what Le Helley describes the final version, and knowing that Johansson’s team is already wearing it “it’s a good sign,” she says, adding that when someone rebuys a scent, you know it works. “It’s kind of connected to fashion in a weird way,” says Johansson of fragrance’s ability to creating a signature. “We never really set out to do perfume here at all. It’s just based on having the opportunity to work with Frédéric, otherwise I don’t think it would happen.”

For Malle, tapping into the world of designers and young talent is as important as tapping a very primal instinct with his work: “You might fall in love with someone because of their smell,” he says. “And we create that. This is what we do in life.”

Acne Studios by Frédéric Malle launches April 17th at fredericmalle.com, as well as Frédéric Malle and Acne Studio Boutiques worldwide.