Jan Ewoud Vos Creative Director Puredistance "The Thinker"
For months – or years? – Michelyn Camen has asked me to write an article about the way I creatively direct Puredistance. Since I rather create and make things than talk about them, it took me a while before I felt starting writing. But today is a good day since spring is in the air and, so I will go through my archives and try to give you an insight in the way I try to keep the name Puredistance synonymous with understated elegance and timeless beauty. I will explain you how we team up with the Perfumers that have created our fragrances. I will also share with you some original visuals I have used in the past 8 years to inspire the Perfumers. Thinking long-term is fundamental to the consistent styling and quality of our Perfume House.
MY DRIVE -My main drive always has been to create beauty that lightens up the life of people. Beauty with a strong inner core of true passion, beauty and soul. I love to intrinsically ‘load up’ our creations with so much intense and genuine care for the aspect of beauty that the receiver can feel this. As real enthusiasm is infectious, the spirit that goes into a creation can be too. When I look at a van Gogh I can feel the passion, frenziness and (crazy) drive that went into it and it touches me. Still.
MY VISION- I keep this drive under control by long-term thinking. Puredistance always has had a clear vision and strategy. Back in 2002, when I came up with the name Puredistance I could see its global essence and this vision never changed and has solidly guided me all these years. Key in this vision are timeless beauty. Elegance. Small is Beautiful. Quality over Quantity. Pure Whites, rich, warm Golden tones, a touch of cool Silver and occasionally deep Reds…. Honesty hand in had with Loyalty as in the Pure of Purity. Distance for protection. To keep the inner values Pure.
MY WORK– With a background in design and photography, I do all design and artwork myself. I love to create: All packaging ,Photos and film, Brochures, books, our website and the concept for every new perfume
Puredistance DNA
Underlying all artwork is the Puredistance DNA. Whatever is new has to line up with our key values. With such a clear DNA and all artwork coming from one and the same person, I guess it is no surprise that Puredistance has developed into a Perfume House with its own, unique style.
An illustration by Gabriel Conroy that perfectly illustrates one of the motto’s of Puredistance: “less is more
Jan Ewoud Vos Together with Perfumer Antoine Lie of Takasago during a presentation of Puredistance BLACK in Paris
One of the visuals given to Roja Dove for Puredistance M illustrating the androgynous and strong character of the fragrance – showing Marlene Dietrich, David Bowie, Annie Lenox and a model for Yves Saint Laurent. One piece of feedback I wrote to Roja Dove, August 12, 2010, after having received some try-outs for M. “If you think there should be a sting or something unexpected, please think of the high note of a saxophone or trumpet, rather than the cling of a sword.” Later I found I was referring to a high concentration of clove that I found was too dominantly present. Based on this feedback the Perfume was made more harmonious and balanced.
By the way: I never discuss ingredients, since I don’t know anything about them and want to keep it that way. I am not a Perfumer and don’t want to become one. I don’t want to be the guy that tells Paul McCartney to compose a song using lot of A notes and two times a C Major…. By keeping my olfactorial virginity I can much better judge the match between the fragrance and my concept, not being clouded by formula’s and ingredients.
Vintage Aston Martin and brown leather interior
Evaluating the Perfume suggestions I got from Roja Dove I always closed my eyes and pictured myself sitting in the brown leather backseat of a vintage Aston Martin DB6. A leather and wood interior like the Oak Bar in New York: warm, rich and leathery, a seat and a place with a history. I combined this vision with the cool modern grey tones of the outside of the DB6 and this way I could evaluate effortlessly and in the end direct the Perfume into the right, balanced, ‘James Bond’ direction. Rich, comfortable, but with a hint of Danger.
A visual and textual briefing for Antoine Lie for Puredistance BLACK. I found it important to communicate the elegantly dark quality of BLACK. Dark as in the shadows; elegance in the background.
Peruvian Artist Alberto Vargas known for his Pin-Up Girls
For Puredistance WHITE I colour changed a beautiful pin-up illustration from the genial Albert Vargas. This illustration perfectly embodied the fragrance I had in mind for WHITE.
Another visual I created for WHITE, using one of my own images from my private collection. It clearly shows I am envisioning a warm, golden quality in WHITE, but in a ‘clean’ and original way. Not a sweaty, tropical gold, but a pure, radiant gold that warms in an open and pleasant way.
One piece of feedback I wrote to Annie Buzantian, May 10, 2012, after having received some reworks on a fragrance we were working on. “And if you ask me in what direction I see any changes, I only have a small wish. To make the first vibrant hypnotic stage last a bit longer. (I really like the opening!) So that the picture I see the first 5 minutes stays sharp for a longer time instead of getting blurred pretty soon into the 'softer soapy stage.”
Kees van Dongen from Parfum, 1945
This wonderful painting of Kees van Dongen that can only be found in a limited edition of 1000 books with the subject and name PARFUM printed in 1945.
Master Perfumer Annie Buzantian of Firmenich composed Puredistance I, Antonia and Opardu
It stayed on the desk of Master Perfume Annie Buzantian for six months and in the end resulted in Puredistance OPARDU.
Presenting the Puredistance Master Perfume Collection in a way that does justice to its beauty and class has been one the biggest challenges. It took me one year to turn the idea of a Puredistance Chessboard Display into a reality.
The artistic process nearly always starts in my house where I work in a small room of 6 square metres. One Mac computer (All my life I have worked with Apple computers, where would I have been without them…?), lots of paper, some beautiful pens (I love pens!), a pair of scissors and a printer/copier are all I need. After designing the Chessboard Display I buy the materials to create a raw model. I love the physical process of creation, working with my hands, cutting, sawing, spraying. It perfectly balances the ‘nerdy’ act of design behind the computer that eventually kills my body! When the raw model has been perfected I try to find the right manufacturer.
Since we are such a small Perfume House that only sells to ca. 80 stores worldwide, we need suppliers that can produce small quantities. This is another task of my role as Creative Director, to find the right companies that can produce high quality Perfume, displays or packaging in small quantities. Not easy in a world that seems to be obsessed by the word MORE. But we manage!
Our Main Office in the Netherlands is an old church, converted to a production hall and design centre. In the morning I work at home in my 6m2 room, in the afternoon I go to the office where I have more space and people around me to test and evaluate my ideas. This place has a unique feel, since it was used for 60 years as a church and for 20 years as a ballet school…. spiritual elegance is still in the air!
Jan Ewoud Vos
Staying in the shadow, far away from the the intrigues and gossips the beauty and fashion world is famous for, it is easier for me to maintain a fresh and original view and stay ‘pure’. I feel blessed I never had to rub shoulders with the rich and famous and pretentious to achieve my goal: building one of the most beautiful ‘boutique’ Perfume Houses in the world. If my voyage has proved one thing to me, it’s the fact that if you stay loyal to your original vision for a long time, practice patience, and don’t compromise on your ethics, the impossible might become possible. And yes, you need some luck too!
Puredistance store design
Being Creative Director at Puredistance I am responsible for all elements of the Puredistance Presentation: packaging, displays and in this case the furniture. One era of style and design that has influenced me a lot is the Art Deco era.
The PuredistanceTeam: (Top Left) Marije Tempel, Mary Gooding, Iris Vos, Bottom Left) Kalina Kordynska, Jan Ewoud Vos and Nele Tammiste
During the whole article I have written in the “I’ form. But let me make clear that nearly all my ideas are discussed and presented to the Puredistance team. Their feedback and ideas are of great importance and always result in a final design that is better. Also all Perfumes we get from the Perfumer are tried out by my team and while I have the final say, their input is an essential part of the process.
Jan's inspirations are an eclectic group of artists or personalities and include Rene Gruau, Frank Sinatra, David Bowie, Coco Chanel, Roger Federer, James Bond, his family, The Rolling Stones, Andree Putnam and Emma Peel (among others)
I feel one should never take too much credit for one’s achievements. Rather than constantly taking credit for the result, simply ENJOY the result. It is my view that without the right genes of our ancestors, without the right inspiration, we would never be what we are. Therefore I daily thank my parents for all they gave me and feel privileged and lucky to be born in a free country, the Netherlands, where I was able to get a good education and a safe life. All my creative work I see as the result of good genes, the right inspiration and a lot of luck. Below some of my main inspiration.
The Puredistance Perfume Collection shown in 17.5 ml ( from 25 percent to WHITE's 38 percent pure perfume oil)
I like to end my story with six visuals I created very recently. These images show the unique character of each fragrance, while at the same time there is the consistency of the underlying Puredistance DNA – elegance, harmony and timeless beauty – that connects all of them.
–Jan Ewoud Vos, Founder and Creative Director for Puredistance
Editor's Note: Yes indeed. I reached out to Jan after Opardu and yes it was worth the wait for this article. He is the EPITOME of a Creative Director and a modern day Rennaisance man. Thank you Jan and we look forward to meeting you at Esxence- The Scent of Excellence March 26-29, 2015 for the formal debut of WHITE.
Puredistance 2ml x 6 parfum gift set
Thanks to Jan we have a world wide draw for a reader worldwide. You may choose between the 6 x2ml deluxe sampler ( I, Antonia, M, Opardu, Black and White) or a 17.5 ml Perfume Spray of your choice of I, Antonia, M, Opardu, Black or White. To be eligible please leave a quality comment with what you found fascinating about Jan Ewoud Vos as a creative director and where you live. If you would like your comment to count twice, Jan would be interested in what you think would be a great name or artistic inspiration for the next Puredistance perfume. Be sure to include what you hope to win in your comment or you will automatically be entered for the sampler. Draw closes March 23, 2015
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume