The well-known luxury perfume line Bond No. 9 New York has created a full-fledged collection from its first adventure outside of the typical New York City-inspired fragrances that the brand is known for. Bond No. 9 Dubai is inspired by the source of all luxury scent – the Middle East. The collection is doing well in both domestic and international markets and will launch in Dubai this month as the last and, obviously, most special destination.
The Dubai collection pushes the boundaries on current fragrance trends. Full of notes of delicious-sounding smells like blackberry, jasmine, amber and saffron, each scent has its own layer of depth that develops on each individual wearer. The newest Dubai scents are Garnet (fruity and spicy), Jade (richly oriental), and Black Sapphire (rich and sultry). Each retails for $550 for a 100 ml. bottle.
CultureMap caught up with Laurice Rahme, the founder of this iconic perfumery, during her recent Houston visit to Saks Fifth Avenue to tell us the latest. As Rahme describes the top trends in the perfume world, she notes, “Customers are now telling me what I want, instead of us choosing a direction and going with it in different variations. “
Rich is In
The trend for the past years has been fragrances with a heavy emphasis on Oud, a woody musky scent drived from a rare Asian tree. While NYC is the linchpin Bond No. 9 mission statement, Rahme wanted to explore outside of the Oud movement and go straight to the source of all the trends to be on the cutting edge. She wanted something rich, but new. “The light scents are less and less preferred and many companies have been focusing on Oud, so instead of doing this, two years ago we tried something different and ultra contemporary," she explained.
Unisex is In
Rahme is spending more of her time making unisex fragrances. No more flowery women's and earthy male fragrances. There is no more definition on what people prefer; it is about the person, not the gender, she said. “It was like this in the beginning of perfumery – Louis XIV wore rose oil and has his shirt washed with rose essence. Perfume is meant to be unisex. “
Floral is out, fruity is in
While the floral movement is still going strong, customers are exploring new, deeper, more intense elements in their scents. “Men especially want fruity as opposed to the common fresh, clean fragrances on the market," Rahme said.
She continues to innovate her brand and provide new fragrant explorations of the world for her clients. “Even if I had 1,000 bottles in my collection — right now I have 70 — I still wouldn’t have a scent for everyone," she said.
Customers can test their luxury fragrance dedication by also investing in the 42-oz. Bond No. 9 Perfume Fountain, scented with Dubai Ruby and Dubai Indigo, for $4,500, or the Dubai Treasure Chest — a three-tier blue velvet jewel box fitted with each of the nine Dubai eaux de parfums in distinctive bottles, also retailing for $4,500.
The newest fragrances in the Dubai Collection are packaged in the distinctive Bond No. 9 bottles.
Houston-based designer Christy Lynn Lee and her husband Christophe Chung.Photo by Quy Tran 
Shoppers can peruse the ready-to-wear Resort 2025 Collection at the River Oaks District pop-up. Photo courtesy of Christy Lynn
Christy Lynn Lee celebrated her 5 year anniversary with a fashion show and the debut of her River Oaks District pop-up. Photo by Quy Tran 
