LITERARY SCENTS

Making perfume is "a bridge to my history, but also a way to find my own universe," says Kilian Hennessy. A grandson of the founder of the LVMH Group, he grew up frisking around the Cognac barrels in the family cellars, on France's Charente River. Kilian's interest in perfume peaked while he was attending the Sorbonne. He wrote his thesis on the semantics of smells, and, in turn, he studied with some of the great "noses" in the modern world.

After helping to market the fragrances of Dior, Paco Rabanne, Alexander McQueen, and Giorgio Armani, he was ready to create his own blend—L'Oeuvre Noire, or "Black Masterpiece," a collection of 10 scents (men's, women's, and unisex)—which now sells at Bergdorf Goodman, in New York City. The name refers to a Marguerite Yourcenar novel about a medieval alchemist as well as the stark black flagons that contain the "juice," as perfumers call their product.

The combined shields of Hector and Achilles that adorn the bottle give a nod to Homer's Iliad. And in a wink to Kilian's patrimony, there is a $2,500 refillable, Cognac-barrel-shaped fountain, available for all of his fragrances. "It's not so different, after all. Cognac you smell before you taste. The way they speak about Cognac is almost the same as the way we speak about perfume."

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MARIA RICAPITO

Bergdorf Blondes aren't the only ones with access to John Barrett anymore. This season, the famed New York City hairstylist, whose eponymous salon occupies the penthouse floor of the Fifth Avenue department store, debuts a new hair-care line, Elementage, which protects your locks from day-to-day weathering and natural aging. The sweetly scented, vitamin-enriched products, ranging from shampoo to styling balm, are definitely cutting-edge. —JESSICA FLINT