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Serge Lutens

Ambre Sultan

1993OrientalEDPFrance

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Editorial notes

  1. 01

    A deliberately bone-dry herbal-amber laid with bay leaf and oregano, the antithesis of the sweet 1990s gourmand vanillas dominating the era.

  2. 02

    Set the modern niche-amber template countless later houses would copy. Arguably the most influential single amber composition of the 1990s.

  3. 03

    Lutens credits Ambre Sultan as the fragrance that defined the Salons Shiseido niche project's aesthetic: dark, severe, anti-mainstream.

  4. 04

    Composed by Christopher Sheldrake in 1993 around coriander and bay leaf over an amber-benzoin-labdanum heart with an oakmoss-tonka-patchouli base.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active. Niche cult.

A herbal amber.

Composed by
Christopher Sheldrake
Founder
Serge Lutens
Country
France

The pyramid

Top
corianderbay leafmyrtle
Heart
amberbenzoinlabdanumvanillasandalwood
Base
oakmosstonkapatchoulivetiver

The brief

Sheldrake and Lutens built it around a deliberately bone-dry herbal-amber accord layered with bay leaf and oregano, the antithesis of the sweet 1990s gourmand vanillas.

Name'Ambre Sultan' — an amber composition imagined as worn by a North African sultan.

Why it mattered

  • Set the modern niche-amber template that countless later houses copied; arguably the most influential single amber composition of the 1990s.

Footnotes

  • Lutens credits Ambre Sultan as the fragrance that defined the Salons Shiseido niche project's aesthetic — dark, severe, anti-mainstream.

The Curator's Note

Bone-dry amber, oregano in the bottle, and the rule book set on fire.

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