What does "sex" smell like to designer Henry Holland? Mimosa, suntan lotion and pine trees, with a dash of musk.

That's what Holland's perfumer told us last night at an exclusive gathering in New York's West Village for the launch of the Six Scents: Series Two fragrance collection.

The quirky British designer, who is famous for his "House of Holland" clothing line featuring t-shirts plastered with suggestive catchphrases like "Do Me in the Park Marc" (and his relationship with muse Agyness Deyn) hosted last night's event and designed a fragrance for the collection.

The Six Scents Fragrance Initiative is an annual collaboration that connects six prominent designers and perfumers to develop an exclusive series of fragrances to raise money for a charity.

Series One featured scents by Preen and Alexandre Herchcovitch and benefited Designers Against AIDS. Now in its second year, Series Two is composed of fragrances by designers Phillip Lim, Henrik Vibskov, Damir Doma, Toga, Richard Nicoll and Henry Holland, and a portion of the proceeds goes to Pro-Natura to support their environmental sustainability programs.

In the crowd of stylish New Yorkers and sweet smelling fragrances, we found Givaudan perfumer Stephen Nilsen, who talks to StyleList about his collaboration with Henry Holland.


SL: What was the inspiration behind this scent?
SN: Henry's designs are very colorful and energetic and we wanted to create the same feeling of space, warmth and positivity with the scent. Henry's signature color is purple and when he envisioned the fragrance, he imagined an over-sized, purple sofa where friends would gather. I started with the idea of the color purple, and what that smells like and added the concept of comfort and optimism.

SL: What smells did you combine to create the final fragrance?
SN: I included the smell of mimosa, lilac, jasmine and coconut. I also used the natural smell of suntan lotion to evoke Henry's favorite beach memories and the scent of pine trees to recreate the feeling of running through the woods as a child, young and carefree and I combined these with the texture of Musk.

SL: Who did you envision wearing this fragrance?
SN: It is meant for both men and women and it smells like sex.

Hmmm.. Good to know!