SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

September heralds the start of a new season, and for Aesop, two significant beginnings. This month, we open our second store in Paris, on rue Saint-Honore. It is a wonderful location that allows us to enjoy autumn walks in the nearby Palais Royal and late-night visits to the Louvre on Wednesday and Friday evenings. Opening this store means we will be exiting Colette, moving our products off their shelves and down the road to ours. We part company as fond friends and will continue our relationship as neighbours. We also intend to launch an Aesop signature store in Tokyo later this year. While the exact date is yet to be confirmed, the site has been chosen. Given these developments, we are in the mind to toast new beginnings. We hope your beginnings – whatever they may be – bring you equivalent pleasure and joy.  

DRINK
Egly-Ouriet NV Brut Rose. Sparkling Rose, done well, is something we at Aesop feel should be an obligatory part of any celebration and, in turn, celebrated in its own right. This is one of the finest examples of French sparkling pink and should be reserved for those special milestones when only the extraordinary will suffice. Seek it out well in advance and acknowledge the investment as being entirely justified.

SUPPORT
Sydney Architecture Walks. Whether you’re a local or a visitor, we encourage you to make time to stroll the streets of the harbour city with Sydney Architecture Walks. Each of the four themed walks is led by an architect who provides insight into the history, stories and creative thought behind the city’s significant structures. You will consider this thriving metropolis – established as a penal colony with no formal plan for its development – in a fresh and respectful way.

APPLY
Bold fragrances to your skin. Aesop’s two fragrances, Marrakech and Mystra, are the result of long rumination on ancient places. Our interpretation of Marrakech led us to craft a scent with Clove, Sandalwood, and Cardamom. Mystra is many-layered with notes that evoke Byzantium – Mastic, Frankincense, and Labdanum. Both scents are available as eau de toilette, parfum, and baume de parfum. Discover Aesop’s fragrances - for men and women - while exploring our Brisbane or Zurich store, to maintain your sense of exploration.

DISCOVER
Basel’s incredible art institution Schaulager (which means ‘viewing warehouse’), established by the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation. This contemporary art collection has been housed in several significant galleries, including the Kunsthalle, before growing so extensive that it required its own location. Schaulager displays several room-sized installations, including the remarkable work by Robert Gober. Until 3 October, Schaulager is also exhibiting sculptural works by Matthew Barney, creator of The Cremaster Cycle.

WATCH
French New Wave filmmaker Francois Truffaut’s (1932-1984) The 400 Blows, released in 1959. Expelled from school at fourteen, Truffaut was largely self-taught, having legendarily set himself the task of watching three movies a day and reading three books a week. Although neglected as a child he gained much attention as an adult for his film criticism, acting, and twenty-five remarkable films. The 400 Blows tells the tale of a troubled adolescent, and is believed to be autobiographical.

ATTEND
Burning Man, a self-proclaimed ‘participant-driven event’ (as opposed to anything too stiffly curated) which runs from 30 August to 6 September in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, celebrating the possibilities for growth and creativity that come from collective radical expression loosely tied to a theme. This year’s theme is Metropolis: The Life of Cities. While there are decidedly New Age Hippy overtones, close to 50,000 people attended this festival in 2008, so you will find all manner of man here. To learn more, read their Ten Principles.

HEAR
Kansas-city born singer Janelle Monáe who is receiving much attention for her CD The ArchAndroid, which was released in May and coincided with a jaw-droppingly impressive performance on David Letterman’s Late Show. After featuring in two Outkast songs, Janelle caught the eye of Sean Combs, who signed the 24-year-old to his record label in 2007. While we marvel at her voice and charisma we would also like to point south to Ms Monáe’s feet, because this woman can dance.

EAT
At Nino Trattoria (Via Borgognona 11, Roma) where, despite its proximity to the Spanish Steps, this institution retains its integrity and authenticity, offering generous serves of white bean soup, pasta carbonara and cannelloni. Particularly recommended are their old-school desserts, which include chestnut cake and tiramisu. If the weather allows, enjoy your meal in the garden of the restaurant with a glass of their very good house red.

LISTEN
To Stanford University lectures available as podcasts on iTunes. Topics you wished you’d shown an interest in when you left school are now there for the taking. Choose from entire courses such as Mini Med School to one-off conversation such as An Evening with Leonard Cohen and Philip Glass. While it’s not new, Neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky’s lecture in the Health and Medicine section titled Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers remains fascinating listening.

‘Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over.’ F. Scott Fitzgerald