Bond No. 9 New York News

For the Anniversary of Warhol's 80th Birthday, Bond No. 9 Returns to his Origins and Celebrates the Sensual Link Between Shoes and Perfume

NEW YORK, July 24 PRNewswire — If you want to find the earliest signs of the artist Andy Warhol would become, look no further than a pair of shoes.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080724/NYTHFNS1 )

Before the soup cans, before Marilyn Monroe, Warhol was a prolific shoe illustrator, which helped provide the foundation for his most-iconic Pop Art works. To mark that chapter in his life, Bond No. 9, a New York-based luxury niche perfumer, has released (in time for the anniversary of Warhol's 80th birthday on Aug. 6), Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue, the third in its line of Warhol-inspired collectible scents.

Warhol lived in several apartments on Lexington Avenue, on Manhattan's East Side, in the 1950s. He needed to make a living.

"Prophetically, Andy Warhol's first job upon his arrival to New York City was to illustrate a magazine article entitled 'Success is a Job in New York," said Michael Hermann, Director of Licensing at The Andy Warhol Foundation.

Along came I. Miller, a tony shoe store on Fifth Avenue, which chose Warhol to update its image with illustrations for newspaper advertisements.

The I. Miller illustrations hinted at Warhol's future. A decade before Pop Art emerged, he was already advancing consumer goods as a worthy subject — perhaps the new subject of art. It is in the shoe ads where Warhol began using repetition to emphasize the product's allure.

So seriously did Warhol take his shoe illustrations that in 1956 he submitted one as a gift to the Museum of Modern Art. (It was rejected.)

Fast forward to 2008 as Bond No. 9 began developing its third Warhol fragrance (following Silver Factory and Union Square).

"With fanciful shoes the most directional fashion story in recent years, we found our theme when we discovered the rich lode of phantasmagorical shoes Warhol created on paper 50 years ahead of their time," says Bond No. 9's Founder and CEO, Laurice Rahme.

Rahme says the latest Bond No. 9 Warhol Collectible eau de parfum is a modern floral woody chypre (chypre meaning fresh citrus topnotes and a lingering forest-like base) combined with a brew of Fennel, Cardamom, Roasted Almonds, Peony, Florentine Orris, Creme Brulee, Patchouli, and Sandalwood.

Depicted on the bottle is a Warholian fantasy collage of shoes and boots, as commissioned by I. Miller, in rich, saturated colors.

"The overall effect is witty and sophisticated — as assured as the high-stepping optimism of mid-century America of Warhol's shoe-illustrating years," Rahme says. "If Andy Warhol was a mirror of his time, he also reflected the vitality and creativity of his adopted city — exactly what Bond No. 9 is about."

Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue will be available in 100ml and 50ml sizes at Bond No. 9's four New York City boutiques, www.bondno9.com, and Saks Fifth Avenue and museum stores nationwide in September (from $135).

SOURCE Bond No. 9 New York

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