Nicolas Ghesquière doesn't want to define Balenciaga fragrance

(AFP PHOTO / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT)

Balenciaga's first fragrance in 12 years launches internationally this week, but fans of the label will have to get their own hands -- or noses -- on the scent in order to get an idea of how it smells: after watching an interview with creative director Nicolas Ghesquière leaked on YouTube, one senses that this is a very mysterious affair.

Balenciaga's first fragrance in 12 years launches internationally this week, but fans of the label will have to get their own hands - or noses - on the scent in order to get an idea of how it smells: after watching an interview with creative director Nicolas Ghesquière leaked on YouTube, one senses that this is a very mysterious affair.

After talking vaguely about scents he likes ("flowers," for example), Ghesquière says in the French video: "It's not really identifiable. It's the same with my fashion: I like when references are not immediately identifiable."

Beauty editors who have had an exclusive preview of Balenciaga Paris, as the new fragrance is called, can't seem to decide either. Britt Aboutaleb of Fashionista writes, for example: "[The scent is] powdery, light, and perfect for someone who doesn't want to smell like they're wearing perfume."

Apparently, French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg who stars in the ads was just the kind of "unidentifiable" Ghesquière was looking for: "I was looking for more than beauty, I was looking for strangeness [...]," he says in the clip. "We wanted strange beauty, something indefinable."

And describing the campaign pictures shot by star photographer Steven Meisel, he adds: "I wanted to evoke her sensibility and her power at the same time."

As for the flacon, Ghesquière says it is an extension of Balenciaga's perfume bottles from the past century, inspired by the brand's structured fashion silhouette.

Balenciaga Paris is available for €75 at international department stores.