Kerala in a bottle

Hermes has unveiled its latest fragrance - Un Jardin Apres la Mousson that captures the scents of Kerala in 100 ml bottles.

The House of Hermes is smitten by India - first with its Spring/Summer 2008 collection designed by Jean Paul Gaultier with its Anarkali caps, churidaars, dhoti pants and the sari dress then with Indian model Lakshmi Menon fronting their campaign.

Now Hermes has unveiled its latest fragrance - Un Jardin Apres la Mousson (A Garden after the Monsoon) which captures the scents of God's Own Country Kerala, in its 100ml bottles.

"The perfume is confected with vetiver and kahli ginger, tuberose and gardenia," says Jean-Claude Ellen, the developer Jean-Claude's notes romanticise Kerala: "In coastal Kerala, spices have been trafficked since the Romans rode in on the winds of the monsoons seeking cardamom and pepper black gold."

"Women wear their saris differently here than they do up north, draping them like togas. And when the first monsoon blows in from the Arabian Sea - and it always seems to arrive during the first week of June, extinguishing the scorching rays of the summer sun and ushering in a joyful verdant renewal - the modest women of Kerala rush out into the rain, and the saris cling close to the body Very brotique," says Ellen.

That's the source of the essence of God's Own Country made and bottled in France.