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StyleList: Speaking of the fragrance, tell us what made you decide to launch this particular scent; were you traveling, did you smell something that inspired you?
Josie Natori: I happen to be a lover of fragrance from a very small age; I grew up with that (fragrance). I am from the Philippines where my grandmother and my mother never left home without a fragrance, without perfume, and so for me, I feel naked without perfume. I got into the fashion business 33 years ago and started doing lingerie, which is so personal, and people buy Natori because it makes them feel good; it's an instant lift. Having a Natori fragrance is such a natural extension of what the brand is about – a gift for yourself, instant gratification, and it's the closest thing to your skin! They are so synonymous – lingerie and fragrance. The fragrance is the way it is because it's all the flowers that I love, that I grew up with, and is the East/West sensibility of Natori; I feel that it's something that can go from day to night, and is very personal; it's something that has all of the elements that I love and I've been very hands-on in creating this, so it's been a great journey!
SL: And how do you wear fragrance? Do you do a few spritzes on your wrist, or do you spray and walk through it, what's your method?
JN: To me, fragrance is a companion; I can't leave the house without it, and then I spritz myself all the time. To me I like a fragrance that I can keep refreshing; I don't like it to be obnoxious, but I like layering things; one thing that is nice about the collection is that there are body creams and bathing gel; there's nothing more luxuriating to me than taking a bath with the bathing gel then putting on the body creams after. I like the layering and to refresh myself with it several times during the day.
SL: Tell us a bit about the bottle design – it's very powerful!
JN: I am very proud of this bottle design! For Natori, it's all about the East/West sensibility and the heritage, and we wanted a bottle that is like a work of art; even after you finish it, it is a very beautiful object to look at. It was inspired by a lotus flower which is a beautiful object, and the flacon is like a river stone, and it is very sensual and very feminine; that is what Natori is about.
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SL: Do you remember what your first fragrance was? Or what made you fall in love with fragrance?
JN: I grew up being exposed to Bal à Versailles and Joy, which are classics, and that's what I love. I like Opium too!
SL: Is there anything else, as far as for the rest of 2010, we can look forward to from Natori?
JN: This fragrance is just the beginning; we are layering in, adding the body cream, the Body Veil (a luxurious emulsion of the fragrance, launching in early July), purse sprays, and soap – it's about a person's wardrobe, and we are going to keep adding into the layers, because it's not just one thing, it's a total concept, I believe. We have the candles and a lot of gift ideas with gift sets and lingerie bags. NATORI is about a gift and I think with fragrance you can have very innovative and different kind of gifts for the different seasons, which is fun with nice surprises for different times of the year to add to classic NATORI fragrance collection.
SL: You mentioned before that you are active online, your blogging, your tweeting, etc – what is your procedure like? Do you check in a few times a day, do you keep the window constantly open?
JN: Well, I am so busy, but I try to tweet when I can; I am a neophyte in this but I think what a wonderful way this is to communicate with consumers and getting feedback, and I feel like through doing this I am getting hip!
SL: You are hip! You've always been hip!
JN: No, no, no, not in the electronic world! It's a different world today and I think that to be able to express yourself and communicate in the real world so fast is a lot of fun (twitter handle: @josienatori)... I started just a couple of months ago and now I think now I am getting the hang of it! I try to do it in between my busy time.
SL: Do you read or follow Bryanboy's blog, since he is also from the Philippines?
JN: Oh yes! I've seen it once and I think it's fun, the things he's doing, and he seems like an outrageous guy. He's done an amazing job of standing out there, and it's fascinating, what's he's done!