Torrential rains and sunshine echoed the mystical ancestral presence of Coco de Mer, the world’s largest seed that made its way from the Seychelles all the way to Harlem. A long-standing home of New York’s rich history of cultural contributions, steeped in liberation, was the perfect location for a Juneteenth event to remember.
A cultural portal awaited urban tastemakers who move between worlds of style, soul, and innovation, gathering on Juneteenth at The Victoria to be among the first to experience the Coco de Mer Collection, a woman-owned perfume label from the Seychelles, newly available in the U.S.
Through the mastery and craftsmanship of conservationist Sharon Bonne, Creole Seychellois creator of the Coco de Mer Collection, guests experienced the most treasured piece of the Seychelles right from Harlem: the only perfumes in the world with Coco de Mer, one of the most legendary, enigmatic, and evocative seeds in the world.
With only 5,000 palms in the world, the giant and majestic Coco de Mer is found nowhere else but the Seychelles, the paradisiacal island nation that was flourishing isolated and undisturbed in the Indian Ocean between Kenya, Madagascar, and the Maldives until recent times. Now beloved and highly sought after, the Coco de Mer Collection purchases their seeds directly from the National Parks to help protect the palms from poachers. They only collect them when they naturally fall to the ground and donate 1% of each sale to the Seychelles Island Foundation.
Coco de Mer only collects naturally fallen seeds, which take up to 10 years to mature. With an inclusive range of masculine, floral, neutral, and unisex options, scents, five distinctive fragrances, each made with 100% natural plant-derived ingredients, Coco de Mer invites you to escape the everyday and take a journey of the senses—no passport required.
Guests in attendance to the private salon heard from luminaries in the arts, literary, and philanthropic worlds on the topics of identity, sensuality, and liberation: author and speaker Anita Kopacz, author and legacy-driven activist Abdul Tubman, Legendary Voguing Icon and European Ballroom pioneer Lasseindra Lanvin, actress and environmental entrepreneur Yvonna Kopacz Wright, and Fashion Designer and Celebrity Stylist, Carlton Jones.
On an occasion as auspicious as Juneteenth, known for its lingering reminders of liberation and collective care, a cultural parallel seemed apparent about the wisdom of a slow harvest and the role time plays in innovation: just as the Coco de Mer palm takes years to mature enough to cross-pollinate and bear fully-grown Coco de Mer seeds that can only be harvested after it naturally falls (creating a sustainable ecosystem) so, too, do we as a people thrive when nourished, not forced.
Digital creators and storytellers in attendance including Whitney Woods, Lisa Shakespeare, Treshanna Eloise, Angeline de Leon, Esmeralda Baez, Lee Burgos, Dos Flakos, and Toni Thai, connected meaningfully on scent memory, reclaiming ancestral legends, interconnection, culture, and what makes a perfume “The One” while experiencing the Coco de Mer Collection of perfumes.
There seemed to be a consensus that scents perceived as typically European in origin, or typically dominated by European influences, aren’t the only indicator of global luxury. Coco de Mer perfumes that become “The One” are revered for the combination of rare, exotic, natural, sustainably sourced key ingredients, rooted in heritage-focused mythic lore.
Said to be a “lost mystical pillar of the Seychelles,” the olfactory enchantment of the Coco de Mer Perfume Collection elicits cravings for unabashed love, passion, intimacy, and liberation inspired by the decadent beaches, white sands, and turquoise waters with proud cultural roots to its Mother Land, thanks to African women who kept the Coco de Mer palm cultivated and protected.
Get in touch with the natural beauty of the Seychelles by purchasing your favorite Coco de Mer perfume or a Coco de Mer Discovery Set directly through their US site: www.cocodemerfragrances.com
Slider Photos by Daniel Watson | Header Photo by Victoria Jade for Livid Magazine
