| A Slow Luxury Collaboration: Creative Director, Author and Illustrator, Jade Dressler Teams Up with Master Perfumers, Maria McElroy and Alexis Karl of House of Cherry Bomb |
| WHAT IS IT, THIS IMMORTAL BELOVED? The world’s most mysterious and ancient myths, fairy tales, and legends of sacred traditions along with modern goddesses around the globe inspire inImmortal Beloved, the World’s First Goddess Perfume + Coloring Book project, a creative ‘Slow Luxury Co*lab collaboration of multi-disciplinary artists bringing to life 12 stories of goddesses. The coloring book celebrates legendary and modern day goddess heroines and their wise and humorous quotes, stories, self-care gifts and detailed illustrations ready to be colored. The matching perfume instantly connects in a visceral, heady way as a compliment to the world’s legendary goddess stories and the book’s practical system of insight and transformation. |
THE BOOK IS ACTUALLY A TRANSFORMATION RITUAL.
Like a vision board on steroids, the sequence of 12 goddesses follow a multi-cultural, ancient divinatory pattern the author updates for modern mystics called “The 9 Star Passport.” As a symbolic ritual, the book introduces a new expanded dimensional method to interpret the mythical and intuitive. “From a young age, I was fascinated by healing traditions found in many cultures, from the Native American Medicine Wheel to the Yantras of the Yogis, says Jade Dressler, creative director, author and illustrator. “One day while in mediation, during an intensive 3-year Feng Shui study program, I suddenly realized that the Bagua, the Feng Shui map of 9 life-areas, traditionally used in energy-mapping buildings and landscape spaces, also aligns with our body’s energy centers. Soon after, I discovered the expanded, dimensional syncs as a global pathway between sacred spots found geographically on Earth. Naturally, the insights followed the rich creative, healing and protecting goddess traditions of those lands.”
Overall tracing this pathway echoes the growing and evolving sequences of flow found in Nature known to science as Fractals and the Fibonacci Sequence to explain the phenomenon of “expanding and evolving symmetry.” Mathematicians call these patterns Self-Similarity and Magic Squares, while Physicists call this pattern Constructual Law. Artists call this timeless beauty“The Golden Ratio.”
“In life, success comes when we move in evolved steps from place to place, following treasured maps of mastery while creating our own careful, thoughtful design in accord with the greater universal pattern flow,” shares Dressler. “Symbolic movement is a key to the timeless manifestation matrix of our universe; whether we follow them via games, an intentioned pathway through a home or the artful connecting to a goddess myth.”
WHAT ELSE DO YOU LEARN ABOUT GODDESSES IN THE BOOK?
Coloring books are a meditative practice, currently in vogue in response to our over-digital stimulation. The slow luxury of coloring relaxes, opens creativity and echoes the timeless tracing of ancient mandalas, yantras, or sand paintings for balance and connection. Each goddess is honored with a full page of stories organized by her healing aspects in these four areas:
Her Story in the Eternal Moment of Now
Her Ancient Future Siren Song
Hear Her, Sense Her, Heal You
Her Mantra to Try On For Size + Fit
WHICH GODDESSES CREATED IMMORTAL BELOVED?
A lifetime of fascination for goddess myths and culture around the world inspired Jade Dressler, (left, above) a creative director, author and illustrator based in NYC, to create the book and inspire the perfumes. Known for award-winning, large-scale art installations from urban Milan to the wild mountains of Brazil that highlight passage, love, and the earth, she also has a branding agency for luxury and pop-culture clients and is the founder of the creative collaborative platform, Slow Luxury.
The perfumes are the creation of the indie-perfumers from the Brooklyn-based House Of Cherry Bomb, Maria McElroy, (right) master perfumer of AromaM, who recently celebrated her 20th year as one of the original indie-perfumers and Alexis Karl (center) artist, filmmaker, and lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on art and scent.
THIS GODDESS GETS AROUND.
The University of Arizona Museum of Art invited Dressler to design the pop up shop for their Head to Toe gala benefit which also became the first public appearance of the perfume and project. Since the launch, pop-up shops and goddess picnic installations in New York City have delighted guests with partners including Cornelia Spa at The Surrey Hotel, The Brazil Foundation at the Ornare showroom in the A+D Building (Architects and Designers Building) and The Mind Body Spirit Network.
“Launching Immortal Beloved at the UAMA in the American South West was perfect, as the first chapter of the book opens with the first life area called ROOTS, our first energy center or chakra governing ideas of all our origins, such as our family roots, our ancestors and survival. Native American tradition asks us all to “find the center place,” which they considered the Southwest. We chose the controversial figure of Pocahontas, whom we actually view as a goddess to represent this energy,” shares Dressler. “Although she lived in the East, given her legendary acts, notoriety and story as the daughter of a chief and a peace-making intermediary, and even her name and life as a point of misrepresentation between all people, for this we think she symbolically represents all goddesses of this land and makes for a perfect healer.”
THE PERFUME?
Immortal Beloved is an all-natural fragrance that entwines the mystery of dark, vintage ouds and million year old amber resins, with that of stunning Moroccan henna flower, drops of precious beeswax absolute, and tobacco flower. A shadow of ambergris, labdanum, and chypre are touched with traces of delicate lily of the valley and Madagascar vanilla.
“Immortal Beloved is sensual and complex, an olfactory story of Gods and Goddesses, beauty, power, and love eternal,” says McElroy. “We have envisioned the fragrance of immortality by using rare and precious elements from nature. Immortal Beloved resonates through time, reflecting the light, the dark, and the marvelous intensity of being.”
EACH GODDESS HAS HER OWN PERFUME.
Four limited-edition earth goddess perfumes, called Body Cocktails, for the first four Earth goddesses are now available.
POCAHONTAS of NATIVE AMERICA
PINGA of THE ARCTIC + INUIT NORTH
ABUNDANTIA of ITALY
+ EL SIRENA of SPAIN
Ingredients
POCAHONTAS of NATIVE AMERICA
Oakmoss, Pine, Clary Sage, Cedar Atlas, Stone, Black Agar, Labdanum, Fossilized Amber, Camellia Flower, Orange Blossom, Ambergris, Lily of The Valley, Soil note
PINGA of THE ARCTIC + INUIT NORTH
Salt water, Airy Flower note, Lilac, Iris, Soil note, Oakmoss, White Flower Bouquet, Paper Whites
ABUNDANTIA of ITALY
Apricot, Pear, Mandarin Orange, Honey Blend, Coffee cold press, Neroli, Mimosa, Violet, Soil note
EL SIRENA of SPAIN
Bouquet of Red Roses, Saffron, Salt water, Pear, Orange, Pettigrain sur fleur, Grapefruit, Cumin, Mimosa, Honey, Honeysuckle, Orange blossom, Lime peel
While the four goddesses of the earth with their own perfumes, perfumes of the other goddesses in the book are planned.
Girls of the DreamTime
4 SARASWATI of INDIA + THE AUSTRALIAN DREAMTIME
5 KWAN YIN of THE FAR EAST
6 IXCHEL of THE SOUTH AMERICA
Galaxy Gals
7 SHEELA of THE CELTS + FREYA of SCANDINAVIA
8 CLEOPATRA of EGYPT + AMMA, MAMA AFRICA of MOROCCO9
BLACK-AS-TARA of CHINA + RUSSIA + TIBET
TRAVEL TO CREATE TREASURED GODDESS PLEASURES.
The Immortal Beloved project extends to journeys, inviting travelers to make and explore the worlds of perfume, clothing and design sourced in the 9 global destinations by working with local resources and traders. Many destinations will follow a network of Goddess connection through the Slow Luxury platform and in partnership with Epic Road, the transformative travel company, which has been awarded Travel + Leisure‘s A-List designation since 2015 as a Top Travel Specialist. The first trip is Marrakech, read more here.
GOOD GODDESS, THERE’S A FILM, TOO!
Alexis Karl has created a short art film on the project, see it here.
| TO PURCHASE Immortal Beloved has incarnated in several versions, from golden vials looking like precious, unearthed artifacts to a modern wellness trio, with the Immortal Beloved Magic Set, Talisman bag, Perfume samples and Coloring Book Gift Set. Find all here. PERFUME Immortal Beloved Perfume $180. 1/3 oz (10 ml) oil based perfume in a hand blown, gold filigree, Czechoslovakian glass bottle. Earth Goddess Body Cocktails. $200. Hand-gilded, egg shaped bottles with crystal stopper. PERFUME + COLORING BOOK The Immortal Beloved Magic Set : Bag, Book, and Perfumes $60. The Immortal Beloved coloring book comes alive with a sampler of the first 4 new Earth Goddess perfumes in a beautiful handy, hand-appliqued, ritual medicine bag to inspire. ILLUSTRATIONS Illustrations of the first four Earth Goddesses are available as art giclee prints, available now online by clicking here for the Immortal Beloved Collection in The Jade Dress Shop. The prints come in two sizes: 8” X 10” $75. 11”X 14″ $150.00 ### BIOS American born artist Maria McElroy synthesized her love of blending colors and textures with her passion for scent. After receiving an MFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1986, Maria continued her studies in Australia and became a Certified Aromatherapist with Queensland Institute of Natural Science. Seven years in Japan, studying Kodo, the ancient art of fragrance, Ikebana, Japanese flower arrangement Koto, Japanese harp, Shiatsu massage and Zen Buddhism solidified Maria’s appreciation for Japanese culture and aesthetics. Romance also flourished back in New York where Maria met her Japanese-born chef husband. Maria’s seven-year journey, rich in Japanese history, romance, and mystery, became the genesis of Aroma M and the inspiration for the signature Geisha fragrance line. She is known for custom blended scent products developed for clients, including Sephora. As an innovator for place-based, indie fragrance, Maria’s fragrances have been sold for over 20 years by top retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman; Harrods; Henri Bendel; ABC Carpet & Home; and currently at Cornelia Spa at the Surrey in NYC. Her collections have been featured in media such as Elle; In Style; The New York Times; W; Lucky; Oprah; New York magazine; Japanese, Italian, and British Vogue; the Bergdorf Goodman catalog; Shanghai’s leading fashion magazine, BeauBeau; and Vanity Fair. Aroma M is based in Brooklyn, New York and is now known worldwide. www.aromam.com Alexis Karl is a multimedia artist, musician and perfumer, She is the founder of Scent By Alexis and co-owner and perfumer of House of Cherry Bomb. She is a regular lecturer on fragrance, fashion, and art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Morbid Anatomy Museum, and teaches art and fragrance at Pratt Institute and School of Visual Arts. She has exhibited her paintings, multimedia and performance works both in NYC, Italy and UK, most notably at The Whitney Biennial, Corcoran Museum of Art, and Morbid Anatomy Museum. Her work has been featured in The NY Post, London Times, Art News, ARCO Japan, various blogs, radio, and television spots. Karl’s work as an artist, perfumer and lecturer is a true an exploration of multimodal mediums, and often film, painting, fragrance and music will stand side by side in exhibitions and performances. Jade Dressler is a creative futurist. She is a passionate advocate for the cultural sustainability concept of “Slow Luxury,” new goods and experiences through travel and celebration of indigenous materials for fashion and beauty, first and foremost, and secondarily, Jade is a storyteller from her 30+ years of adventures as an artist, designer, illustrator, stylist, and creative director for clients hailing from the urban jungles of New York City, Paris, and Milan to the actual wild, rainforest jungles of Brazil. Jade’s career as an artist and designer spans from her first-year scholarship and BFA from Moore College of Art; to immersion in art and architecture studies in Europe with Parsons Paris and Villanova University in Siena, Italy; to her years as a store designer for Macy’s and to today, as creative director of her NYC-based namesake agency, Jade Dressler. In the 1980’s and 90’s she designed PJ’s for Cher and jewelry for the runways of legendary designers, Bill Blass, Mary McFadden, and Oscar de la Renta. Her collection of couture jewelry and accessories, called JAMP, also adorned legends such as Iman, Nina Hagen, and Naomi Campbell, and was sold in Henri Bendels, Saks Fifth Avenue, Martha’s, Ron Herman, the famed Charivari, and internationally, in luxury stores such as Joyce in Hong Kong and Creeds. JAMP was featured in media such as Accessories, Details, Elle, Marie Claire, New York Times, Vogue, W, and WWD; styled by Stephan Gan; and photographed by Sheila Metzner. Since 2000, Jade has led teams that design, develop, and maximize brand strategy and platforms for pop-culture, luxury lifestyle brands, with clients that have ranged from mass brands such as American Express; Sunglass Hut; and Sony Pictures Classics; and to personality clients, a fun bunch who have ranged from Park-Avenue socialites to Broadway and VH1 hip-hop TV producers to Olympic athletes, including Amanda Beard and Michael Phelps. www.jadedressler.com |
SLOW LUXURY 