Bursting onto the scene in 1992, Issey Miyake’s L’Eau D’Issey is a sensory masterpiece. Demonstrating the late designer’s prowess for innovation and poetic energy, the alluring aroma steered the tide away from strong, oriental fragrances into a fresher way of thinking. Marrying a sense of simplicity and surprise, the Eau du Parfum pays homage to aquatic influences and the vivacious essence of life. Setting the fragrance apart from the crowd, the introduction of calone was the first for women’s fragrance of the era, a stroke of genius from one of the world’s most talented ‘noses’, Jacques Cavallier.

30 years on, the fragrance retains its cult status, each spritz offering an infusion of calm into 21st century life. The latest in a line of prestigious collaborators, Brazilian artist Luiz Zerbini, is the most recent visionary to put his stamp on the iconic collection. Creating nine unique monotypes in homage to the natural world, the artist breathes new life into the harmonious world of Issey Miyake with his mesmerising creations.

Head below to step into Zerbini’s visionary world…

Could you introduce yourself, and your work?
My name is Luiz Zerbini. I am a Brazilian artist and I live in Rio de Janeiro. I create art that is inspired by nature in its purest and most raw form. I paint the world as I see it : bright, coloured, and unexpected.

How does the city of Rio de Janeiro inspire/galvanize you?
The city of Rio de Janeiro and the Forest are mixed together, there is no determined limit between them. Rio de Janeiro is a Forest city. My work has always been connected to nature. I find in plants the essence of what I am looking for.

Tell us more about your inspirations.
I like the silence of plants and the sound of water. I like to observe the things in nature. Nature is the center of my creation.

Tell us more about your creation process in general?
The secret is in simplicity, in the choice of shapes and colors. The plants are my partners. They do the work. I just point out the direction choosing the forms and suggesting the colors.

Could you share with us the artistic methods you used for this project?
I place leaves, flowers and branches on a previously inked metal plate before pressing the composition on a large sheet of paper which reveals surprising shapes and colors.

When Issey Miyake offered to collaborate, what was your first thoughts?
Issey Miyake and I have a mutual friend, who gifted him with a book that brings together my production of monotypes from 2016 to 2020. So, as soon as I received the invitation, and heard that Issey Miyake had got to know my work through this book, I was thrilled and eager to know what had attracted him.

What was the initial intention?
When I was called for this project I proposed a series of nine prints inspired by plants and water. Issey Miyake gave me total freedom.

How do your work and the one of Issey Miyake resonate? What do they have in common?
It made a lot of sense to me to be invited to collaborate with Issey Miyake, because in my work, especially in the production of monotypes, I recognize a trace of minimalism, lightness of forms and simplicity that I also see in Miyake’s work.

How did you fuse your universe and the one of the perfume?
Both our universes aspire to reveal the essence of what matters most: the beauty of nature. I focused on that shared ambition to create.

What aspects of the fragrance inspired you?
What most inspired me is the values of simplicity and minimalism that Issey Miyake manifests in all his creations, and that I share in my work as well, specially the monotypes.

Is there a message that you wanted to convey with your work on L’Eau d’Issey?
We should appreciate what nature has to offer to us. Protect it. Magnify it.

L’eau D’issey EDT is available nationwide now with a theperfumeshop.com