Thebes is a very special perfume for me. I have had the pleasure to know Sultan and enjoy many perfume experiences with him. I remember him smelling Guerlain Djedi for the first time, looking in awe and excitement: whoa, what is this?!
Sultan is daring, he smelled it and wanted to make it, not just enjoy it. This kind of fanaticism is not uncreative, it is part of studying, learning, being a student. But how do you make Djedi? Where to start? I remember Sultan making all sorts of study versions along the way: leathery ones, vetiver ones, floral ones, disgusting ones! So much trial and error.
Then one day it was over and he had made Thebes, amazing. It was so similar to Djedi, but as an oil. Achieving that must have meant a lot to Sultan, to know he could be close to his heroes, to understand the workings and juxtapositions of that great, enigmatic creation. Thebes is an incredible attar, a strange experience, a tombal experience.
With the arrival of Thebes perfume I was expecting the same homage, but as a beautiful spray. Wrong. Sultan is moving forward with big strides, is more mature, more confident, happier, less inward, more expansive. This whole collection shows it. Thebes parfum is no longer like Djedi, it is a rebirth, an exciting new day full of life, no more the beautiful gloom. This perfume is uplifting (maybe still strange to some), full of life, almost fun.
Everything is new: the decrepit leather is now spiffy, the dustiness is jolly, the vetiver is alive, sweet flowers replace sinister flowers... Is this the smell of the afterlife? I hope so.
