Judith: a wonderfully vintage parisienne

In partnership with Symrise

“When I arrived at Symrise, the concept for Judith was ready, only the smells were missing!” Sarah-Lee Chlewicki is a 40-year-old evaluator and the founder of Judith, a young brand that emerged only a few months ago. The birth of this aromatic baby could well have seemed a little premature: “I arrived at Symrise in December 2021 and launched Judith just six months later.” But Sarah-Lee had been planning her new adventure for a long time – since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Naturally I talked about it at my job interview. And they said: ’Let’s give it a go!’” Sources of inspiration for the perfume collection include Paris, fashion and the 1980s, the decade when Sarah-Lee was growing up in the capital and putting down her olfactory roots (“the trends that made me fall in love with the world of perfume”). She also forged her visual codes for the ideal woman during those childhood and teenage years, with a preference or Meg Ryan or Julia Roberts as role models for women who feel good about themselves.

The first three fragrances from Judith draw on different archetypes of femininity to portray a versatile Parisienne who loves to dress up, moving seamlessly between cool, seductive and sophisticated. With Col rond, Taille haute and Oversize, Sarah-Lee takes a fresh look at the fashion shapes from the era, illustrating a deliciously vintage complexity that is wholly feminine. And she has an eye for detail: The font for the perfume nam on the bottles is based on car decal typography from the 1980s! Another motivation for her was “the desire to smell these perfumes, to be able to wear them.” Never without emotion. As Sarah-Lee explains: “For Taille haute, for example, Suzy immediately under- stood what my intention was. When I smelled it for the first time, it corresponded exactly to what I’d had in mind: I was enormously touched by it; I even had tears in my eyes.” Suzy is Suzy Le Helley, the 32-year-old highly gifted perfumer behind two of the first three Judith fragrances. “Her style is clean, intelligible; it perfectly expresses everything I want to emphasize,” she adds.

The two women met barely two years ago at Symrise and bonded right away. After just four months they began working on the Judith project. “We speak the same language; we have the same aesthetic codes regardless of the project or note,” says Sarah-Lee. “We really did elaborate the fragrances together.” While their relationship hasn’t changed since Sarah- Lee has taken on two roles, as evaluator and creative director, their mutual trust has kept growing. “What I love is that Suzy listens to me, but she also takes me out of my comfort zone.” And Sarah-Lee felt “extremely flattered” that perfumer Maurice Roucel agreed to work with the young brand, creating the oriental fragrance Oversize.

Today, the collection continues to evolve: “The perfumes are designed to form a whole; we need to be able to explore different olfactory territories.” Two new releases are scheduled for 2024. “They smell so good!” exclaims Sarah-Lee. Suzy worked on the first one, a zesty floral drenched in orange blossom. The second, created by Aliénor Massenet, pays tribute to oakmoss, “an ingredient [she] adores.” Judith will also work with clothing brand Arizona Love. “Since my whole world is tied to fashion, I’m not limiting myself to selling only in perfume stores,” explains the brand founder. The 14 places in three countries offering the brand include hotels, in Saint-Tropez and Méribel, a concept store and a second- hand store in Paris. The question begs to be asked: Who exactly is Judith? “It’s the name of my 10-year-old daughter. But before that itwas the name of a woman I felt embodied
the ideal Parisienne, free-spirited and feminine,” explains Sarah-Lee Chlewicki. “I wanted a powerful name to personify the brand.”

Six questions for Suzy Le Helley, perfumer at Symrise

Is it easier or more complicated to work with a client who is also an evaluator at a fragrance company?
With Judith, Sarah-Lee is both judge and jury for her own brand: She performs her duties as an evaluator while playing the role of creative director. It’s tricky and really nice at the same time. As she knows, I have to be honest (laughs).

What do you mean?
For example, by proposing, among other possibilities, a concept based on citrus fruits for essentially technical reasons, even when she’s explicitly asked me not to go down that path.

And does it work?
Sometimes. But the main thing is that it goes two ways! We trust each other; we understand each other. And most importantly, we know we can say anything to each other, because we’re not oversensitive. The evaluator role is also a challenge for the perfumer.

Especially since Sarah-Lee always knows exactly what she expects of an accord she has in mind.
Happily, her briefs and the names of the fragrances she chooses are always very clear. With Taille haute, for example, the goal was to modernize florals. And with Col rond, our aim was to take an ingredient traditionally associated with a very masculine fougère accord and make it feminine and sexy.

How would you describe Judith?
As a brand that is engaged, in the professional as well as the personal sense. I think it’s a very brave thing to do, launching a brand when you’re still an employee. But when Sarah-Lee talks about Judith, everyone can see how passionate she feels. The brand speaks to people because it’s embodied.

What specifically does Symrise bring to the project?
The fact that it allows an evaluator who’s in charge of a major account to spend time on a fulfilling personal project on the side. Symrise trusted her. That sort of freedom is invaluable. Not all fragrance houses would have given it to her.

Judith in three perfumes

TAILLE HAUTE
Perfumer Suzy Le Helley
Launch 2022
A fragrance inspired by Sarah-Lee’s desire to modernize florals from the 1980s and 1990s that meant something to her (Paris by Yves Saint Laurent, Escape by Calvin Klein). Suzy Le Helley added woods to rose oxide to really bring the accord alive.

COL ROND
Perfumer Suzy Le Helley
Launch 2022
“The smell of your man’s clean T-shirt worn like a second skin.” An effect produced by an overdose of dihydromyrcenol (DHM), a molecule rarely seen in feminine fragrances. Suzy had the “aesthetic intelligence” to add jasmine and a woody complex, transforming the DHM into a new musk.

OVERSIZE
Perfumer Maurice Roucel
Launch 2022
The only one of the olfactory trio to be created by Maurice Roucel, the Symrise amber master. A balsam like jasmine steeped in sensuality. Woody and musky, Oversize has the reach of elegant like Lancaster Concentrate or Youth-Dew from Estée Lauder.