PARIS — Fischersund — the Icelandic art collective and perfumery brand — staged its first scented concert in Paris, at Dover Street Market, on Thursday evening.
It was an immersive, multisensory happening put on by the brand’s founding family, including the siblings Ingibjörg, Sigurrós and Lilja Birgisdottir and Jón Þór “Jónsi” Birgisson, and their partners.
“Our aim is to touch all the senses with our work,” said Lilja Birgisdottir. “We love putting on scented concerts, where we get to connect music, scent and art.” After New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Dublin, Fischersund opted for Paris.
Fischersund’s Lilja Birgisdottir
Photo by Jonathan Chandi / Courtesy of Fischersund
The brand is launching its perfume Faux Flora No. 1, which is inspired by birth, in a 50-ml. bottle. Each Fischersund fragrance takes a cue from Iceland.
Fischersund had held an exhibition at the Nordic Museum in Seattle, called “Faux Flora,” about the five stages of a flowering plant superimposed on to the five stages of human life. This became the theme of the Paris concert. (In four months, 40,000 people attended the exhibition, and it was extended a month. Next, it will travel to the Anchorage Museum this fall.)
In the theater space of Dover Street Market, each concertgoer was given a 5-ml. vial of No. 1, and early on Birgisdottir asked them to spray the fragrance on themselves to begin the scented journey.
Moving images projected on a screen covering the stage showed throbbing cells, rising flowers, landscape and dried grasses. Birgisdottir read aloud in English and Icelandic.
A scented flower sculpture was walked around the room and incense burned at another time. Most of the fragrances that were diffused had been made for the art exhibition.
Fischersund’s scented flower sculpture.
Photo by Jonathan Chandi / Courtesy of Fischersund
Guests were served schnapps made from an old family recipe with Icelandic medicinal herbs, including dried birch leaf and bark, angelica seeds red clover and chervil.
Jónsi, Kjartan Holm and Sindri “Sin Fang” Már Sigfússon create the music — a mix of voices and diverse instruments — for Fischersund. “The music is composed at the same time as they’re composing the perfume and the visual world,” Birgisdottir explained.
“This is a project that was like an idea at the dinner table and now, seven years later, we’re here,” Sin Fang said. “It is very interesting to write music based on scent, and most of our scents are based on memories. Smell has molecules that can transfer over to music. That’s a frequency. When you combine these two artforms, it’s very interesting.”
Jónsi, a self-taught musician and self-taught perfumer, is being named a Firmenich perfumer this spring.
“For us, it gives access to an incredible palette of ingredients,” said Vanessa Dabich, global general manager of Fischersund, adding the brand is also looking to partner on continuing the sustainable use of native Icelandic olfactive ingredients and essential oils as it scales. “From accessibility to speed to market, they will also support us on our growth trajectory.”
Jónsi’s younger sister Sigur Rós — now a perfumer in training — works on fragrances with him.
Incense wafted at the Fischersund scented concert in Paris.
Photo by Jonathan Chandi / Courtesy of Fischersund
Each member of the family is involved with “sensorial design.” “It’s been our dream to work together as a family, travel the world and connect with people,” Birgisdottir said. “It’s a dream come true to come here to Paris and have a scented concert.”
Fischersund has been carried by Dover Street Parfums Market for two years. The collective has just put up an art installation in the store comprised of resin sculptures made of condoms. “There are a lot of interesting things inside,” Birgisdottir said. “It’s very beautiful and interesting.”
“Fischersund has been an incredible partner for us,” said Mateusz Kalinowski, director of buying and development at Dover Street Parfums Market. “When we started working together what we’ve been particularly into is this universe that they have created around the brand.
“At Dover Street Parfums Market we’ve been limited to experiencing just the olfactive side of the perfumes, and this is an opportunity for us to convey that beauty is this incredible medium that has the ability to influence all of the different senses,” he said.
