Thanks to an autograph hunter in Las Vegas who asked to borrow a pen, a French perfumer is poised to launch his-and-hers fragrances in memory of Michael Jackson.
Inspired by plants that grow at the late King of Pop’s Neverland Ranch, “Jackson’s Tribute” for men and “Jackson’s Legend” for women, both eau de parfums, will be formally launched on March 7 in the US.
Julian Rouas Paris, manufacturer of own-brand and private-label fragrances, formulated the scents in just two weeks under a partnership deal signed in California last month with the patriarch of the Jackson family.
Photo: AFP
“With Joe Jackson, we are 50-50 partners in world sales, television rights and advertising receipts,” chief executive Franck Rouas said, adding that a part of the proceeds will go to charities favored by Michael Jackson.
As he tells it, Rouas — a one-time French tennis instructor to Hollywood stars — was manning his company’s stall at a trade fair in Las Vegas when two young autograph hunters asked to borrow his pen.
The Jackson family was nearby, they said, so Rouas immediately gave him not only his pen, but also two samples of Versailles, one of his firm’s own brands, with instructions for them to be given to Janet Jackson.
One hour later came an invitation for Rouas to meet the Jackson family in a private salon, the perfumer said. There, the Jacksons expressed interest in his products; Rouas in turn proposed various fragrances.
Following further negotiations, the musical clan settled on a fruity floral blend for women and a more musky version for men, said Joseph Rubino, 63, the master perfumer whose nose perfected both scents.
Developing the scent — which purports to capture the prevailing floral aroma at Neverland — took just two weeks.
“We did it very very quickly,” Rouas said. “Usually it takes a year.”
“There’s been lots and lots of luck in this story,” said Rubino, from Grasse, a small town in the hills above the French Riviera that is the heart of the French perfume industry.
News of the scents came as a court in Los Angeles ordered physician Conrad Murray to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter over Jackson’s sudden death on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50 from an overdose of powerful sedatives.
In Los Angeles, a spokesman for Michael Jackson’s estate said the perfume venture was “a Joe Jackson deal” in which it was not involved.
Pre-orders and expressions of interest have already come to Rouas from as far afield as Southeast Asia and southern Africa and a dedicated Web site is to be launched in the coming days, the perfumer said.
Similar his-and-hers scents — “Mystique de Michael Jackson” and “Legende de Michael Jackson” — were telemarketed in the US in the early 1990s, featuring collectable bottles with hologram portraits of the star.
Another line of Michael Jackson signature perfumes, “Magic Beat”, launched in 1986, was aimed at teenage girls, but failed to take off.
Rouas, 38, a native of Nice who has lived on the West Coast of the US for 15 years, happened upon the perfume business in 1996 when he met industry professionals at a charity soiree in Monaco.
Having sold insurance, real estate and windows, he began trading perfume in the US while initially remaining a tennis pro to the likes of film star Sharon Stone and Michael Glaser of television’s Starsky and Hutch.
Ever open to new opportunities, Rouas said he has been contacted by troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan, just out of prison, to create a perfume in her name — to be called “Freedom.”
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
RSS