Thomas du Pre de Saint Maur is the international marketing director for fragrances at Dior. He was recently in Hong Kong to promote the launch of Pure Poison.
Q: What's the rationale behind the launch?
A: We talked to a lot of women and looked at cultural and social trends, and we realised that people are willing to dream now more than ever. The movies that are doing well now - Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings - show this.
When we wanted to do a fragrance, we knew we already had a legend on our hands: Poison. It's a legend of seduction, and we felt it was time to re-activate the legend. We have a legend of seduction inspired by Beauty and the Beast, but it needs to be adapted to every period. That's how we've evolved from Poison to Tendre Poison to Hypnotic Poison, and now Pure Poison.
Seduction has changed since the 1980s when Poison was first launched. It's not as selfish any more. Now, it's like a game. A woman can be a high seductress but still have a pure heart. That's the message of Pure Poison.
Q: So you feel Pure Poison will be acceptable to more women than the original Poison?
A: The original Poison is our best-seller, so it's difficult to say. For the young audience that we're targeting we need to make the message more contemporary. It's now more positive: I'm a strong woman, I can play with seduction, but my intentions aren't bad. That's how women are today. If you listen to R&B and pop music, that's what the women are singing about.
