Whenever Mrs. C and I are out looking at art we have a conversation which goes like this, “Isn’t that piece incredibly done?” I reply, “Yes but I wouldn’t want to live with it every day.” I find myself having this internal conversation about perfume more frequently. One part of the reason for that is there are a lot of fragrances being made for, and marketed to, a demographic decades younger than me. It is a normal thing, but I now get new perfumes which I have to try and figure out whether it is what that consumer wants. I end up paying more attention to the construction because I understand that. This struggle was front and center on Zadig & Voltaire Girls Can Do Anything.
Thierry Gillier
When Thierry Gillier founded Zadig & Voltaire in 1998 he was looking to dress the cool girl of Paris. He believed that style would find acceptance word-wide. Twenty years on it appears he was correct. The clothes are simple designs modernized with modern tailoring and detailing. When M. Gillier made the move to fragrance it was a bit of a bumpy ride. He partnered with the founders of Le Labo to create two perfumes in 2009 and 2012. They were both Orientals of a similar style that seemed to fall somewhere between the Le Labo and Zadig & Voltaire aesthetic. It didn’t work.
Quentin Bisch
Two years ago, M. Gillier was ready to give it a try again. This time he was the creative director providing a clear vision of what the brand stood for. The most obvious change was a streamlined style with fragrances of a few ingredients mostly dominated by a single keynote. Reacquainting myself with them they are typical designer perfumes.
For Girls Can Do Anything there is a similar aesthetic at work. Except this time the supporting ingredients have more of an obvious effect. Perfumer Quentin Bisch took the style of the brand of tailoring and detail and transformed it to a fragrance.
Girls Can Do Anything starts with a crisp pear which is given a soft green shimmer via a fern accord. Tonka bean provides a toasty sweet nuttiness which M. Bisch floats a veil of orange blossom over. Vanilla and ambrox provide a dry sweet woody base accord.
Girls Can Do Anything has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
As I wore Girls Can Do Anything I appreciated the details M. Bisch provided around the keynotes. They are tuned to provide a specific effect which I could admire. This is where the second half of my internal conversation takes place as this perfume is not meant for me. I asked a couple of young women I know what they thought, and they seemed to like it. Maybe it is that group who wants this style. I can admire the tailoring and detail, but I will never be a cool girl on the Seine.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by Zadig & Voltaire.
–Mark Behnke
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