Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Juozas Statkevicius (Josef Statkus) Perfume




Like many fashion designers around the world, Juozas Statkevicius from Vilnius, Lithuania, has commisioned an eponymous fragrance. Unlike 90% (or is it 99%?) of them, he actually wanted a good perfume.

My mother was born in Vilnius, and has lived there until she was 18. I've never visited and my mom's stories and memories of the city end in 1965, so I picture Vlinius in black and white with a vintage atmosphere (the sound you're hearing is my Lithuanian readers roaring with laughter). Juozas Statkevicius (the perfume, that is) smells the way I've always imagined the city-rain falling on its cobblestone street, evergreen trees, old buildings and old wood. It's an ambery incense that feels more organic than any of the CDG Incense Series scents with a lightly sweetened vanilla-pine drydown.

The very first time my husband smelled Juozas Statkevicius (or Josef Statkun, as the name appear in non-Lithuanian websites) he said it reminds him of really nice (read: non musty) antique stores. A couple of years ago, when the perfume was first available in the US (it was actually launched in 2004), I sent my mom a sample. She said she couldn't place it, but it smelled familiar. To me it was like a whiff of foreign countries caught in the heavy coat of a traveler.

Looking at the pictures I've found for this review, I think one day the traveler would be me.

Juozas Statkevicius EDP ($180, 50 ml) is available from Luckyscent and Beauty Habit.

A clip from the designer's October 2008 fashion show in Vilnius:








Photos (all are from Flickr):
Autumn In Vilnius by Kritta
Gendimino Prospekt, Vilnius Lithuania by Nige820
Vilnius, 2005 by Frarock

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