Images| Photographer Piotr Stoklosa shot Karl Lagerfeld in his Paris apartment, being interviewed by Joanna Przetakiewicz for the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of VIVA!

Karl Lagerfeld says the rumor circulating that he is working on a fragrance called ‘Paper Passion’, developing a fragrance to smell like books isn’t happening. German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung was very specific in sharing the details of ‘Paper Passion’, saying that it would be sold inside a hardcover book with the pages hollowed out to hold the perfume flacon.

The fragrance was allegedly in development with Berlin perfumer Geza Schön, who told the paper that ‘the fragrance will have a fatty note,’ and he was taking his inspiration from the smell of printed and unprinted paper.

I was surprised to read about the paper-smelling fragrance initiative, coming on the heels of last year’s enormously successful launch of M/MINK, a conceptually stunning presentation focused on ink, not books.

This would not be the first books-inspired fragrance, although none have the marketing power of Karl Lagerfeld and 300,000 books behind them: Library Paperback by Demeter Fragrance; In the Library Water Perfume by CB I Hate Perfume; Library Collection: Opus II by Amouage.

M/MINK Eau de Parfum | M/M Paris | Inez & Vindooth Anne of Carversville

In a reversal of the usual development process for a new fragrance, Swedish perfume company BYREDO PARFUMS developed their M/MINK fragrance, inspired by art and imagery, not a scent in nature, food, or even an abstract concept like ‘sensuality’ or ‘joy’.

M/MINK is created to first smell like ink, but then to become the spirit and soul of ink, so that the fragrance is writing messages under your skin. It’s very conceptual, we know, but understanding this process may become easier with the first-ever museum exhibition on perfume as an art form at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design’s ‘The Art of Scent’.

More images of Karl Lagerfeld in his studio by Piotr Stoklosa