Photographed by Mariah Jelena for Vogue Arabia, January 2018.
Following her highly-successful debut of fragrances, Amna Al Habtoor unveils a second edition of scents under her niche fragrance range, Arcadia. Entitled “The Dark Series”, the new collection boasts eight unisex scents that are inspired by raw human emotions.
“The main purpose of these videos is to inspire raw emotion and human connection, both of which are fundamental to Arcadia’s narrative,” says Al Habtoor to Vogue.me. “Arcadia’s Dark Series was inspired by intrinsically human subjects like pain and loss, using scent as a vehicle to shed light on the raw, complex, and layered emotions that occur during the dark times in life.” Indeed, while the first collection of made-in-the-UAE fragrances drew inspiration from the idea of a utopian existence, taking from memories of her late mother, Al Habtoor reveals that for this series, a lot of soul-searching was required. “I spent a lot of time learning about myself, about my experiences, and how they shaped me to become the person that I am today. I love the act of learning— I don’t think you should limit learning to books and lectures, it’s not always about the tangible and the quantifiable. Sometimes it is a compilation of abstract thoughts, failures, heartache, and events formed by curiosity and introspection,” she explains.
Much like the first collection, Dark Series features intoxicating, cruelty-free scents with oriental ingredients such as Musk, Incense, Patchouli, and Frankincense combined with notes of vanilla, jasmine, and rose. Each fragrance comes packaged in a minimalistic glass bottle with illusive names like Jinx, Enigma, Hysteria, and Pseudo.
To coincide with the launch, Al Habtoor decided to compose a video series, starring 12 creatives from Dubai and New York, who open up to vulnerability by answering a series of intimate questions such as “how would the last person in love with you describe you?” and “what is pain?”
When choosing the participants for the video campaign— Which includes her brother Mohammed Al Habtoor, Saudi Arabian designer Arwa Al Banawi, the hosts of The Dukkan Show, Omar Tom, Mohamad Akkaoui and Reem Hameed, New York-based merchandiser Lali Qureshi, and women’s activist Wendy Wecksell— the beauty entrepreneur looked for those who she believed had the ability to be vulnerable in front of a camera.”We wanted these participants to be open and honest without holding back. Not everyone is capable or at a place in their life where they are able to do that, so it was important for us to involve like minded individuals, most of who were creatives, who were able to tap into their emotions with ease,” she explains.
Watch: Arwa al Banawi
“It was a very personal and beautiful experience. I was very open and relaxed as I felt connected to the story of this series,” admits Al Banawi who features in a five minute clip. “It’s really great to work with family friends who are creative and driven,” she says of working with Al Habtoor. “I work with projects I’m most passionate about— I am very particular with scents; I have a selection of oud I choose from our supplier in Saudi Arabia and I have a scent I use over and over again for years— but I loved Arcadia’s scents. I like that I can mix them with oud as well. Plus, the brand has a very strong and romantic message about it that it really draws me even more to it’s story.”
Qureshi, who also features in the series, echoes her statement. “Amna is amazing. When you meet her you are immediately drawn to her genuine warm personality. Her story deeply touched me and inspired me. I was able to learn and grow from her personal story. I’m happy I made another friend on the other side of the world [Middle East] and grateful to have learned so much about myself from her passion,” she says. “I’m normally reserved with my feelings, but when I first read the questions I decided to answer them for myself using a webcam and learned so much about who I am. I didn’t realize how therapeutic it would be. That made me want to inspire others to be honest with themselves, ask yourself those questions and get in touch with a side of themselves they may have not met yet.”
Watch: Lali Qureshi
To celebrate the launch of the second edition of fragrances, Arcadia has created a two-day public event for guests to explore and find inspiration at the Dark Series immersive art installation. The event will take place at the “Arcadia by Amna Warehouse” in Al Quoz on May 11-12. While previous events have all been private and strictly guest list, the upcoming event is open to the public as Dark Series is all about human connection. “We wanted to be able to share [the collection] with the public. I think that there is an importance to create a a space to show authentic human emotion in this world of social media, where you only see the best versions of people’s lives,” she explains.
During the event, guests are invited to explore 8 interactive spaces dedicated to each of the fragrance in the collection. “These scents have narratives which have inspired the interactive art installations within each individual space,” says Al Habtoor when asked what the public can expect at the Amna Warehouse. Additionally, there will be a pop-up store at the end of the experience where customers can explore and shop the range.
The doors are open to the public on Friday and Saturday from 2-8pm at the Arcadia by Amna Warehouse in Al Quoz.
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