If you notice a bright red bag display along Omotesando's Keyaki-dori Street during the most romantic season of the year, you'll arrive at the Dior Perfume & Beauty Omotesando Boutique (E-107, 1st floor, Omotesando Hills Main Building, 4-12-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo). The "CD"-shaped pull handle invites you into the luxurious beauty of Dior.

The house's founder, Christian Dior, was not only a great couturier but also a perfumer. Born from the idea of embodying a dress through fragrance, "Miss Dior" was the house's first perfume, and was used as the "olfactory setting" for Christian Dior's first collection in 1947.

Perfume thus occupies an important position for the house as a bridge between fashion and beauty. This Omotesando boutique is staffed with specially trained, highly specialized fragrance specialists who not only accurately respond to customers' requests but also suggest new scents for them to discover.

To find out what kind of services are actually available, we asked Kazuyuki Matsumura, a makeup artist and fragrance specialist at the Omotesando boutique, to give us a consultation. At Dior, fragrance consultations are called "Orgue Counseling." Matsumura combines tablet-based counseling with careful interviews such as "What kind of perfume do you usually wear?" and "In what situations do you use it?" to suggest three fragrances. The fragrance bottles lined up on the Fragrance Orgue counter are all housed in glass containers like those found in laboratories, a design that prevents customers from being misled by preconceived notions of bottle design.

FASHION HEADLINE reader Marie Torii, who experienced the counseling session that day, chose "Gris Montaigne," which combines feminine essences such as bergamot, citrus, rose, and jasmine in an exquisite balance with oakmoss, which brings deep calm to the mind. "Gris Montaigne" is part of the Collection Privée eau de parfum series, and all 12 varieties of Collection Privée are only available at this Omotesando boutique and the Isetan Shinjuku store.

To be continued in the second part.