EXCLUSIVE: Rapper French Montana Collaborates With Kilian Hennessy
PARIS — Rapper French Montana and Kilian Hennessy have teamed on a fragrance project: Relooking at the scent bottle for Angels’ Share and collaborating on its visual assets.
“I always wore Kilian scents,” Montana told WWD. “Kilian is one of the finest luxury brands in the world with an exquisite level of taste, so it only made sense that we came together to make history.”
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Montana said among the first aspects he was excited about was how collaborative the project would be, and that he was involved in all creative elements.
“It’s been a journey selecting different molds for the bottle, and we’ve landed on a unique design that stands out,” he said.
The limited-edition Angels’ Share by Kilian – French Montana bottle has on its cap a gold-colored disk, reminiscent of an LP record, with engraved chains, nodding to Montana’s necklaces.
He added: “I really didn’t understand the level of how involved Kilian is with his incredible brand. From start to finish, he has guided me through his process and the way he runs his team. I loved working with Ellen von Unwerth at the shoot. She is brilliant, and shot me like no one else has before.”
Montana said he likes scent to be sophisticated, fresh and clean, but also complex and unique.
“This fragrance is just that,” he explained of Angels’ Share. “It is the right scent for a night on the town or stepping onto the red carpet.”
Kilian Paris’ founder said: “My family name Hennessy has always been very, very intertwined with the U.S. hip-hop culture.”
He added that a myriad of song lyrics refer to the brand Hennessy, or “Henney,” for short.
When Montana started his career, he would bring a bottle of Hennessy to the recording studio.
It took Kilian Hennessy 14 years to create a cognac-inspired fragrance, and the result was Angels’ Share. The scent was released in fall 2020 and is now Kilian Paris’ third bestselling perfume — and keeps being sold out.
“I wanted my perfume Angels’ Share to be as intertwined, as linked to the hip-hop culture [as the cognac],” said Hennessy.
Courtesy of Kilian Paris
Von Unwerth was invited to record visually one of the working sessions between Hennessy and Montana, in Miami, for social media play.
Speaking of Montana, Hennessy said: “I found someone who was very authentic, playful and very excited about the collaboration.”
In the U.S., the limited-edition bottle will be launched on sephora.com on Oct. 5 and on bykilian.com on Oct. 6, prior to being rolled out into other countries.
The clips of French and Hennessy will go live on bykilian.com on Oct. 6, then on Kilian Paris’ Instagram page, @kilianparis, starting Oct. 16.
FOR MORE, SEE:
Kilian Hennessy Hosts Paris Lipstick Bash
Kilian Paris Launches Two New Fragrances, Details Growth of the Brand
Kilian Hennessy Partners With Urban Dove for Fragrance Workshop
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