Written by Kristina Kybartaite-Damule
My meeting with Art Meets Art in Cannes came with a little musical discovery, too. In a relaxed conversation, founder Tanguy Le Baud walked me through the collection and the idea behind it: connecting music with perfume, inviting perfumers to interpret songs through scent. From pop classics like Madonna’s Like a Virgin to Consuelo Velázquez’s Bésame Mucho, the collection offers quite a playlist to explore.
Images by Darius Damulis
But the highlight of our meeting for me was the newest addition, The Girl from Ipanema. Created by Fabrice Pellegrin and inspired by Garota de Ipanema, the legendary song by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, it immediately became my favorite in the Art Meets Art collection.
Bright, solar, and playfully floral, it takes me straight to a summer holiday. Flowers in my hair, a long, floaty dress, and nowhere I need to rush. That feeling of being beautiful with carelessly tangled hair and no make-up, when sun-kissed skin is the best filter.
This is the kind of beauty I associate with The Girl from Ipanema: relaxed, warm, and full of life. Even with autumn already here, smelling this I find myself wishing for a little more summer.
Tahitensis vanilla envelops this summer cocktail with a softness that feels slightly almondy and almost fruity to me. It suits the composition so well, making its bright floral character even more inviting. I kept returning to it throughout the meeting.
Brazilian Inspirations
The detail that intrigued me most, however, was the Brazilian rosewood. According to Art Meets Art, the fragrance marks the first use of a NaturePrint® recreation of this particular species, Dalbergia nigra. Developed by Firmenich, the technology analyses a material’s scent and recreates its olfactory profile, rather than extracting an oil from it.
I haven’t had the opportunity to smell this rosewood recreation on its own, so I’m curious about how much of what I perceive comes from it in the finished perfume. But knowing the character of rosewood, I feel it contributes to the floral impression as well as providing the warm, woody facet. It seems to fit very naturally into this sunlit composition.
The Brazilian connection runs a little deeper here, too. Firmenich opened its affiliate in São Paulo in 1952, while Pellegrin himself spent part of his youth in Brazil. Knowing this adds another layer to a perfume inspired by one of the country’s most recognisable songs.
The Layer of Music
And then comes my favourite detail of the story: Brazilian rosewood is also highly valued for acoustic guitar backs and sides, often described as the “Holy Grail” of tonewoods. For a fragrance inspired by bossa nova, choosing a wood so closely connected to the instrument feels indeed thoughtful. The connection between music and perfume reaches all the way into the materials.
I was lucky to discover The Girl from Ipanema before its official release, and it is one of the perfumes from Cannes that I’m most excited to return to. The story is full of lovely connections, but it was the perfume itself, bright and beautiful on skin, that made me want to return to it over and over again.
Art Meets Art’s The Girl from Ipanema is currently available for pre-order, with shipping scheduled to begin on 16 November 2026.