Iman’s debut fragrance, Love Memoir, is nearly here — and it’s an emotional tribute to her late husband David Bowie.
The 66-year-old model, who was married to the late musician from 1992 up until his passing in 2016, set out to create a scent that not only reminded her of Bowie, but also was a “tribute” to love in general.
“What happened last year was really unique. It’s not just the individual, it’s the universal. We’ve all been through it. So what I really wanted to create was a fragrance that was a little bit of him, which is the vetiver,” she explained in a Wednesday, November 17 interview with Today’s Hoda Kotb. “But also create something that was a tribute to love and eternal love and eternal devotion.”
She added: “At the end of our days, the only thing we will have — if we are lucky — is our memories. That is the only thing that we will have and that will sustain us after the person passes away.”
The fragrance collection, entitled Love Memoir, will be exclusively available on HSN on Friday, November 19. The scent will be available to purchase as a 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum ($85), a travel spray ($25), and body lotion ($25). Dutiful fans can also scoop up the complete 3-piece set for $76.
Iman’s Love Memoir fragrance is uniquely shaped like stacked stones. This design choice was inspired by the model’s time spent at her upstate New York home during the pandemic. There, she tells Allure she did a lot of reflecting on memories with Bowie, whom she shared the home with.
While at her upstate home, she told the outlet that she stacked river stones as a means of coping. “You can’t rush them because you have to pick up the right stones,” she said. “Then, you have to balance them carefully, otherwise, they’ll tumble. That in itself was an exercise in balance, solitude, and quietness. It was really all healing for me.”
Breaking into fragrance is fitting, as fragrance has certainly played a part in Iman’s grieving process. In fact, she’s been wearing Bowie’s fragrance every day for the past five years. “I smell him and see him everyday,” she told Kotb of Bowie, who passed away from liver cancer.
“People say to me when they talk, ‘Oh I loved your late husband,’ and I said, ‘He’s not my late husband, he’s my husband,’ so that’s how I feel about it,” she told the host. “This was truly the love of my life, and I just wait until I meet him again.”
