Tilda Swinton's New "Like This" Fragrance for Etat Libre d'Orange

March 31, 2010

"Don't Get Me Wrong, Baby I Don't Swallow" and "Hotel Slut"...no, not cheezy porno flicks, but fragrances from the provocative French fragrance company Etat Libre d'Orange (The Free State of Orange). Never heard of them? It's probably because they are relatively "underground" and available in few specialty stores stateside. Amongst perfumistas, however, they are the stuff of legend - especially since 2007 when they introduced their first celebrity scent with Pedro Almodovar's muse/fetish actress, Rossy De Palma: Eau de Protection, a spicy, dirty rose.

And they recently unveiled their latest collaboration with de Palma's pal Tilda Swinton, she of the fiery hair and eccentric style: "Like This" - named for a love sonnet by mystic Sufi poet Rumi. (To hear her reading the poem, CLICK HERE.)

Inspired by perfumes worn by people close to her - her agent wears the Etat Libre d'Orange scent Tom of Finland (based, in its own way, on the now-defunct Tom of Finland homoerotic art) - the Scottish actress approached the company. The Fragrance Fates were apparently feeling cheeky, and Tilda met Etienne de Swardt, the owner and founder of Etat Libre D'Orange at the appropriately numbered 69, rue des Archives in Paris!

The fragrance is all burnt sugar, ginger (a note Tilda specifically requested) and bright immortelle, a ray of sunshine amongst the dreary celebrity scent clones on the market. Wearing it, in Tilda's words is "an idea that makes me very, very warm and happy..."