Bond Number 9 Hits The Hamptons

Any fragrance boutique that can hold its own on Madison Avenue (within an arm’s length of the famed perfume selection at Barneys New York) clearly offers something uniquely covetable, so it’s amidst much anticipation that the olfactory-favorite Bond No. 9 opens its first East End boutique in Sag Harbor.

Laurice Rahme, founder and president of Bond No. 9, is the brains behind the brand. Her background includes working with the likes of Lancôme, Annick Goutal and Creed, and when she struck out on her own in 2003 she opted to name her line after her downtown flagship store. With scents that complement both men and women, Bond No. 9 quickly developed a cult following, and while Rahme founded her company as a Manhattan-centric brand with names like Park Avenue and New Haarlem, she recently set out to mark New York beaches with a scent of their own. The lineup, which already includes Hamptons and Andy Warhol Montauk, will soon include a Sag Harbor-inspired scent as well. [expand]

“For the Hamptons, I created a fragrance that would capture the real reason why so many New Yorkers head out in droves to the Hamptons every summer” says Rahme, who adds that the Hamptons have an “intoxicating scent of salty sea meets greenery, farmland and potato fields. It’s an addictive whiff of well-being, of fresh and clean, of time out on a precious cusp of land that fronts directly onto the Atlantic.” Rahme has been a fan of the area for 25 years: “Bridgehampton was my favorite, but that changed eight years ago when I fell in love with the quaint, fisherman’s village of Sag Harbor. What I love about Sag Harbor is the amount of culture that can be found in such concentrated area – the theatre, the cinema, antique shops, etc.” Rahme exclaims.

Given her affinity for the area, it’s little surprise that the newest Bond No. 9 perfumery, designed as a summer-white version of her New York City shops, opened in the American Hotel at 45 Main Street in Sag Harbor. The accompanying Sag Harbor scent has been in the works for over a year now and is expected to launch Memorial Day 2012. Asked for a sneak peek, Rahme revealed that the scent “will be very different than our present Hamptons and Andy Warhol Montauk fragrances.  It will have the ‘kick’ that the Sag Harbor village has.”

Also in the works and set for a September launch are fragrances dedicated to the I LOVE NEW YORK campaign by Milton Glaser. With so many fragrances to choose from, making the right choice can be an arduous task for shoppers. “The most important tip for fragrance testing is to put it on your skin and not a blotter,” advises Rahme. “Everyone’s body chemistry is different; fragrance will always smell different on skin than a blotter.” This fragrance aficionado adds that you can smell up to eight scents if you breathe in coffee beans, and that the Bond No. 9 Sag Harbor boutique has testing sessions for people to test the entire Bond No. 9 fragrance line. Still overwhelmed? Rahme divulges that, in general, “women prefer floral notes and men prefer fresh, powerful marine notes.”

Bond No. 9 Sag Harbor will be open year-round and is located in the American Hotel at 45 Main Street (631-725-7467). The perfumery stocks the brand’s entire collection of eaux de parfums, as well as all the auxiliaries including scented candles, soaps, body creams and body lotions. [/expand]