Atelier de Geste- Wild Is The Wind

Atelier de Geste is a relatively new perfume brand that states its inspiration as derived from movement and the art of dance. I confess that this is where my eyes glaze over and they lose me for the most part, as this is one form of art that I fail to get (read: it bores me out of my skull). Thankfully, in Wild Is The Wind Atelier de Geste has created a truly gorgeous perfume that is talking my language of film and music, so I don't have to sit there scratching my head trying to figure it out. I can just wear it and feel it.

As someone who grew up in the 1970s and 80s, Wild Is The Wind meant David Bowie before Nina Simone (not to mention Johnny Mathis). What has been a constant throughout the years is the passion and romance of the song (and the 1957 movie). A rosy leather perfume goes perfectly with this inspiration, even if at first the Atelier de Geste fragrance smelled a bit too much like a "French Perfume"-- musc, rose, and  I could have sworn there's a major aldehydic opening though it's not listed anywhere (Mark Behnke of CaFleureBon agrees) . I guess this is what prompted the husband's comment "Nice, but there's nothing wild about this". But there is.

As Wild Is The Wind unfolds and gets the lived-in feeling of the skin it becomes both leathery and ashy.  The rose note is beautiful here: free of gender connotations but not of romance. It's dry at times, boozy at others but never sweet. The musk on skin level is dirty but not distractingly so. As animalic as the dry-down is, the composition is so carefully calculated that there shouldn't be a problem wearing Wild Is The Wind in polite company. It just smells warm and inviting. And, yes, sexy.

Watching various scenes from the 1957 George Cukor movie, the landscape and the perfume come together in my mind. The dusty terrain, the horses and sheep, a passionate Italian wife, 1950s femininity-- it's all there, along with the song lyrics that reveal a powerful longing:

Love me, love me, love me, love me, say you do
Let me fly away with you
For my love is like the wind,
and wild is the wind
Wild is the wind

Give me more than one caress
satisfy this hungriness
Let the wind blow through your heart
Oh wild is the wind, wild is the wind

You touch me, I hear the sound of mandolins
You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins
You're spring to me, all things to me
Don't you know you're life, itself!

Like the leaf clings to the tree,
Oh, my darling, cling to me
For we're like creatures of the wind,
and wild is the wind


[The most famous covers are, of course, the Nina Simone and David Bowie ones, but Esperanza Spalding, George Michael and Cat Power also have great versions]



For more about Atelier de Geste I highly recommend reading Katherine's interview with the creative mind behind it, Beau Rhee, on Mad Perfumista.

Notes: fire, musk, woods, rosebuds, leather, spirits.

Atelier de Geste- Wild Is The Wind ($130, 50ml EDP) is available from atelierdegeste.com . The sample for this review was provided by the company at the Elements Show in NY.