Cover Francis Kurkdjian looks to the Dior Saddle bag, capturing its audacious character in a new scent
Francis Kurkdjian looks to the Dior Saddle bag, capturing its audacious character in a new scent
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Drawing on the architecture of Dior’s iconic Saddle bag, Francis Kurkdjian reimagines the leather accord in a new fragrance for La Collection Privée
Few perfumers approach scent as a couturier approaches fabric—not as decoration, but as structure itself. Francis Kurkdjian, perfume creation director for La Collection Privée Christian Dior, has long understood this parallel, describing his process as one of olfactory architecture that reflects the structure of a garment. This philosophy finds its most literal expression in Cuir Saddle, a fragrance inspired by the John Galliano Saddle bag, an early-2000s icon whose curves echo the classical form of a riding saddle. The result is neither homage nor reinterpretation, but a scent that wears the same structural audacity— like the Saddle, it is worn close to the body, intimate and unapologetic.
Above Francis Kurkdjian, perfume creation director for La Collection Privée Christian Dior
Francis Kurkdjian, perfume creation director for La Collection Privée Christian Dior
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Leather in perfumery carries considerable historical weight. Its origins trace back to 16th-century Grasse, where master glover- perfumers developed specialised techniques to mask the pungent smells of leather by steeping it in scents of rose, musk, spices and wood. By the 18th century, these artisans had abandoned leather production entirely in favour of perfume plant cultivation, cementing Grasse’s status as the international capital of fragrance. The accord itself evolved through Russian Leather—a tarry, smoky composition derived from birch bark used to waterproof army boots—into a traditional olfactory territory defined by heavy, animal sensuality. Kurkdjian’s provocation with Cuir Saddle lies in his deliberate departure from these conventions. He disrupts the olfactory tradition by using synthetic molecules, creating what he calls a trompe-l’œil leather perfume. It first appears classical in its charred smoky and woody accord, before revealing a touch of lightness that is completely unexpected.
Light in form
Above Cuir Saddle is a fragrance inspired by the John Galliano Saddle bag, an early-2000s icon whose curves echo the classical form of a riding saddle
Cuir Saddle is a fragrance inspired by the John Galliano Saddle bag, an early-2000s icon whose curves echo the classical form of a riding saddle
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The technical execution centres on contradiction. Kurkdjian describes moving away from the connotations of heavy leather accords by modernising their animal sensuality with an overdose of light. Smoky and woody notes remain present but are suffused with noble floral and musky notes, creating a composition Kurkdjian characterises as both persistent and lighter, sensual but softer. The fragrance employs synthetic molecules to achieve a soft, velvety suede, blending traditional leather with a cloud of musky, creamy florals, and modern woody amber notes. This is leather reimagined as luminous and modern new floral facets—a genre disruption that adds an unprecedented sensory facet to this traditional family.
The leather case
Above The travel spray is finished with a couture sleeve detailed with the saddler’s codes of the iconic bag
The travel spray is finished with a couture sleeve detailed with the saddler’s codes of the iconic bag
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The limited-edition bottle retains the signature silhouette of La Collection Privée, topped with a cap wrapped in a supple matte leather in a pale taupe hue drawn from the soft shades familiar to Dior Couture. The travel spray is finished with a couture sleeve detailed with the saddler’s codes of the iconic bag. Designed for on-the-go use, the format is deliberately tactile and chic.
Kurkdjian describes the scent itself as a sensual organic encounter with supple, scented leather, adopted as a sensual extension of the self, a fragrance engineered to melt seamlessly into the skin. Cuir Saddle does not simply reference the bag. It replicates its function: audacious, form-caressing and unmistakably Dior.
Andrea Saadan is the Senior Digital Editor of Tatler Singapore. She oversees all digital content for the website and currently leads the Beauty and Lifestyle verticals. As a child, she had always enjoyed reading and writing but it was only after she joined her college newspaper, The Spectrum, in Buffalo, New York, that she considered a career in journalism. Her love for all things beauty started from the age of two—when she was caught playing with (and damaging) her mother’s YSL lipstick. On top of her day job, she is also an unpaid beauty consultant for friends and family. Besides make-up, her obsessions include the wizarding world of Harry Potter, podcasts, ice-cream, her walking pad and watching endless re-runs of The Office (US).
