Dossier
Edition · 000Status · Active. Genre-defining.
A spicy Atlas cedar with plum.
- Composed by
- Pierre BourdonChristopher Sheldrake
- Founder
- Serge Lutens
- Country
- France
The pyramid
- Top
- bergamotgingercinnamontarragoncardamomcedarrosewood
- Heart
- peachplumorange blossomvioletrose
- Base
- cedarvanillasandalwoodbenzoinmuskcinnamon
The brief
Originally launched in 1992 as a Shiseido fragrance after Lutens' visit to a Moroccan cedar workshop. Re-released under the Serge Lutens name in 2009. Pierre Bourdon developed the concept; Sheldrake refined the formula.
Name'Femininity of the Wood' — Lutens' deliberate inversion of cedar's masculine coding, positioning the wood note as a feminine register.
Why it mattered
- Set the template for the entire 1990s-2000s niche woody-oriental genre; almost every contemporary 'cedar-fruit' niche composition (including Bois series) descends from it.
Footnotes
- Féminité du Bois was the foundational composition of the Shiseido Salons project that became Serge Lutens as a brand. Its spawn includes the entire Bois series (Bois et Fruits, Bois et Musc, Bois Violette, Bois Oriental).
The Curator's Note
Reclaimed cedar from the men's counter and never gave it back.