LES ETTES is the first fragrance designed for board sports girls by board sports girls. We quizzed Les Ettes founders Carmela and Stine to find out more...
The fragrances sound gorgeous, but how did you pick the name LES ETTES and what does it mean?
Wish we had a really good answer but we don't. LES ETTES means absolutely nothing. At first we wanted to call the brand The Ettes but we found out there was already a band called that. So being French and the production being done in France, we decided LES ETTES would be appropriate. In the French language, if a word ends in "-ette", it usually means it is something small and feminine, so we liked it. Also it allowed us to play with the double meaning of 'ette' as 'it', thus our fragrances 'Love-ette' and 'Want-ette'...
So why board sports girls - do we smell a little funky or did you just see a gap in the rapidly growing girls board sports market?
Hee hee, yes, board sports girls are stinky and in need of something to mask their smell! No, just kidding, we just couldn't find what we were looking for on the market. We noticed that our friends were looking for scents that were not overbearing and we wanted something that was light and fresh but still high quality. Also we wanted something that stood out from the stuffy and conventional perfume industry. We wanted something fun and irreverent, something that represented our lifestyle better. It wasn't there, so we decided to create it.
Do you have any plans to expand the range beyond perfume? Or will you ever make a scent for the men?
For now we would like to focus and creating premium non-alcoholic perfumes. Who knows what will happen in the future. We'll see. Men have actually been wearing Want-ette! Which is all good!
That's a kick ass snowboarding team you've got going on, are you planning to add girls from any other sports?
Thank you. They are very important to us. Everything we do is with them in mind. We focus on showing support in what they are currently doing (contests, film parts, etc.). But yes, in the future, we'd like to widen the team to include other female surfers, skaters, artists, and other creative like-minded people.
What about you, where's the Les Ettes girls' favourite place to ride?
Good question. I guess we are fortunate to have many 'home' mountains such as in Austria (Seegrube and Mayrhofen), Sweden (Are), France (Avoriaz, Chamonix, and Biarritz for surfing) and the US (Mammoth and Mt Hood).
So where can we get ourselves some Les Ettes? Are there any plans to sell/ship to the UK? Where can we smell it for ourselves?
LES ETTES perfumes are currently in production but will be in core board shops as soon as this summer, including in the UK. We are currently giving out samples at special events (you can see on our website, next one- Intergirlaktic 6-8 April in les 7 Laux).
You're different to other fragrance makers on the market and we like it - the fact that it's alcohol free means we can wear it anytime without it drying out our skin, and the reusable bottles goes some way to saving our earth, and our snow! Did you set out to be green?
In the wake of global warming, it is impossible not to have an environmental outlook on things. Because of our hobbies, we see first hand (glaciers, ocean, nature in general) what the impacts can be and we make sure that with everything we do or produce there is an environmental aspect or the possibility of a second life to it.
Thanks girls, we can't wait to get-ette for ourselves!
Visit the LES ETTES website to find out more.
Les Ettes Perfume for female board riders | Liz Earle Essential Ski Kit
