Famed French Perfume Masters Bring the World to You With Exotic Interactive Tour

NEW YORK —  International travel may still be a precious commodity as COVID lingers, but it’s still one of life’s great pleasures to dream. Savvy retailers have taken note and are coming up with ways to evoke the spirit of wanderlust without leaving the comforts of home.

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Diptyque has created a lavish interactive tour of some of the most exotic locations in the world. The fabled Paris luxury parfumerie picked five of its favorite destinations  — Paris, Venice, Kyoto, Byblos and Milies, Greece — for its new Le Grand Tour collection, which was unveiled during New York Fashion Week at a pop-up shop in Gotham’s popular Meatpacking District.

Model Lily Aldridge showcased the limited edition collection of candles, fragrances, scented ovals and art at a opening night party in the specially constructed space, which is open to the public through October 10. The pop-up shop features individual tableaus of each destination and scented areas around each work of art.

The event was also distinctive in that masked waiters passed around hors d’oeuvres — each individually encased in a clear plexiglass container as an extra precaution.

The company also created a pop-up shop in Paris, near the Louvre, that will remain open through October 24.

To highlight the new collection, the company paired perfumers, some of which Diptyque has been working with for decades, with five international artists who created original artwork that interpreted their vision of each locale based on the scent created.

The collection includes a new candle representing Paris —  the scent is meant to evoke the sights and scents of a stroll along the Seine – and another candle highlighting Byblos — with notes of roasted coffee, cedar and cardamon summoning memories of a cafe in the old souk.

Other products include a perfumed oval with scent of fig trees, cypresses and the cool breezes of  Milies, a mountain village near Mount Pelion in northern Greece; a trio of travel-size eau de toilettes eliciting a scent-filled Venice vegetable garden; and a floral perfume emblazoned with a Sarayi patterned fabric celebrating the culture of Kyoto.

Prices for the special collection range from $70 to $190.