Serge Lutens is not a perfumer. Born in Lille in 1942, he made his name as a make-up artist and photographer. Shiseido signed him in 1980 to build the Japanese group's visual identity, and his images helped define its look through the 1980s and 1990s.
Shiseido also handed him fragrance. Nombre Noir, commissioned in 1982, was his first. Then came 1992 and two events that moved the whole market. First, Feminite du Bois, a cedar perfume still treated as a landmark composition. Second, the opening of the Salons du Palais Royal in Paris, a private perfume salon Lutens called "more of a refined salon for perfumes than a boutique". Quiet room, purple walls, bell jars. Half the niche boutiques you see today are copying that playbook.
In 2000 he set up his own label, Parfums-Beaute Serge Lutens, with Shiseido's backing, and in 2015 Shiseido bought the Serge Lutens trademark outright.
So who actually writes the formulas? Mostly one man: Christopher Sheldrake. Lutens directs, Sheldrake composes. Santal Majuscule, released in 2012, is typical of the pairing, Sheldrake's sandalwood wrapped in Damask rose and cocoa, released under Lutens's name. None of this is a scandal. Art direction is a real job, and Lutens does it better than almost anyone. But "by Serge Lutens" on a label has always meant the vision, not the hand.
Sandalwood Major is our take on Santal Majuscule, made in the UK at 35% concentration. It sits in our Serge Lutens-inspired collection, and if the wood itself interests you, our guide to sandalwood in fragrance is the place to start.
