Old-school British brand Penhaligon’s has seen a positive renaissance over the last few years. In 2009 they appeared to make a conscious decision to move away from their more staid roots and played to their more risqué side with Bertrand Duchaufour’s masterful Amaranthine – a perfume that was created to smell like the inside of a woman’s thigh (oh my, I’m blushing), and have since set themselves a trend of creating old school perfumes with modern and quirky twists.

Thankfully this is a trend that they seem to be continuing and for 2014, Britain’s most idiosyncratic perfume house is teaming up with the equally unconventional fashion brand, Meadham Kirchhoff, to create perhaps their most whimsical fragrance to date. The result of this collaboration is a fragrance penned by super-perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour (the man also responsible for Amaranthine, Vaara, Sartorial and Orange Blossom) and bestowed with the infectious name ‘Tralala‘.

Launching next week, Tralala is described by Penhaligon’s as being a “beguiling and addictive piece of counter culture couture” and all one needs for proof of this claim is a quick look at the wonderful bottle with it’s clown head and ridiculously huge signature Penhaligon’s bow. The scent itself, is billed as “an opulent, hedonistic blend” that “evokes the interplay of glamour and retrospection favoured by Meadham Kirchhoff”. Having spent quite some time sniffing this new creation, I can wholeheartedly confirm that it does do exactly what it ‘says on the tin’.

The Notes

Top: Aldehydes, Saffron, Whisky, Ambrette Seed Butter, Galbanum & Violet Leaf Absolute
Heart: Carnation, Leather, Tuberose, Ylang Ylang, Orris & Incense
Base: Myrrh Resinoid, Opoponax Absolute, Patchouli, Vetiver, Cedarwood, Heliotrope, Musk & Vanilla

How Does it Smell?

Tralala is a richly textured fragrance right from the outset. It opens with a zippy burst of aldehydes and bergamot, giving the impression of yellow clouds of exploding lemon sherbet. There’s a subtle hint of warm spice, namely the clove-y feel of carnation, that turns the image of bright yellow sherbet powder into something entirely more auburn, and this deep sense of varying shades of mahogany carries through most of the fragrance’s development.

Underneath the glitz and sparkle of the opening is a rich and elastic floral accord that has the rubbery feel akin to the squeak of a shoe against a hardwood floor, or the creak of balloon animals being noisily crafted by a clown. The use of flowers is wonderfully old school, displaying an effect that sits somewhere comfortably between tropical headiness and oriental warmth. Perhaps the most enticing part about the use of flowers here, and the whole scent for that matter, is that whilst they have a strong presence, they don’t feel the need to shout. It would be safe to say that Tralala is content to be a perfume with sillage designed to draw people in just one step closer rather than grab them unwittingly by the neck.

For the most part, there’s a whole lot going on in Tralala’s development. Iris powder, blended with warm notes of whisky and leather, creates a comforting layer that glows softly as the perfume moves towards the base. In the far dry down, a dusty vanilla gains prominence and is intercut by sharp slashes of vetiver and patchouli, making for an unusual vanilla accord that feels mostly aromatic with just a tiny dash of sweetness thrown in for good measure.

Tralala takes all of the best parts of old school fragrances (i.e. the aldehydic sparkle, the heady florals and the resinous base materials) and mixes them with a few little and unsettling touches that feel whimsical, mischievous and a tiny bit dangerous. This is no surprise when one considers the nature of Meadham Kirchhoff’s fashion, which is a strange blend of old-fashioned British glamour and child-like kitsch that is immediately attractive yet just a tad unnerving.

But what Tralala does perfectly, is capture the base elements of this stylistic clash and plays them out as something so contrasting that it works on two levels. On the one hand you have a classic floral oriental with a fuzzy feel and the appropriate levels of aldehydes and iris powder, whilst on the other you have a tussle of the juvenile and the mature, where sherbet is chased with a shot of whisky and the crack of a leather riding crop is used to spur on a wooden hobby horse.

Availability

Penhaligon’s and Meadham Kirchhoff’s Tralala is available in 100ml Eau de Parfum for £150. It will be exclusive to Harvey Nichols (Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge, Manchester and Beauty Bazaar, Harvey Nichols Liverpool and online) from 21st April 2014-5th May 2014.

Harvey Nichols will be launching a Tralala Pop Up Shop in their Knightsbridge store to celebrate the fragrance’s release, where one can go to pick up a bottle as well as tote bags and t-shirts designed exclusively by Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff themselves. There has even been a Tralala cocktail concocted especially for the scent’s residency at the store.

It seems that Penhaligon’s, Meadham Kirchhoff and Harvey Nichols have all gone a bit Tralala mad, and I really cannot blame them…

Disclaimer
Samples, images, notes and quotes via Penhaligon’s.