To celebrate high summer we bring to you a selection of inspiring summer scents in a radiant still life series. Midsummer is the time when glistening sunlight lets the world shine in luminous colors. Berlin-based photographer Axel Kranz and set designer Hendrikje Bernhoeft created their own personal version of a perfect summer day in their studio, evoking memories of the deep blue sea, ultraviolet skies, brightly patterned parasols, and ice cream in primary colors.
Another inspiration for this still life series has been early-20th-century Cubism and suprematistic compositions by Malevich and El Lissitzky. Fun fact: the very first perfume Kranz owned as a teenager has been Chanel’s Antaeus — a fragrance powerful and vibrant enough to compete with the brightest colors, and quite possibly even the sun itself.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Axel Kranz
SET DESIGN: Hendrikje Bernhoeft
Ultraviolet skies and brightly patterned parasols.
A selection of 6 inspiring midsummer perfumes.
01. Shanghai Tang: Jade Dragon
Summertime is always the best of what might be.
―Charles Bowden
YEAR: 2014
PERFUMER: Carlos Benaim
www.shanghaitang.com
02. Pierre Guillaume: Foudre
Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.
—Henry James
YEAR: 2015
Perfumer: Pierre Guillaume
www.pierreguillaumeparis.com
03. Alfred Dunhill: Icon
Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.
―Sam Keen
YEAR: 2015
PERFUMER: Carlos Benaim
www.dunhill.com
04. Vilhelm Parfumerie: Basilico & Fellini
Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon.
—C. Day Lewis
YEAR: 2017
PERFUMER: Jérôme Epinette
www.vilhelmparfumerie.com
05. Humiecki & Graef: Eau Radieuse
Some of the best memories are made in flip flops.
—Kellie Elmore
YEAR: 2009
PERFUMER: Christophe Laudamiel
www.humieckiandgraef.com
06. Eight & Bob: Cap D’Antibes
Oh the summer night has a smile of light and she sits on a sapphire throne.
—Bryan Procter
YEAR: 2014
PERFUMER: unknown
www.eightandbob.com
If you enjoyed this feature, discover more summer scents here.