The Silver Factory, also known simply as "The Factory" was in operation from 1964–1968, Andy Warhol’s original studio, hangout, and club central, located in a nondescript building on East 47th Street, of which acquired visual uniqueness with its aluminum-foil walls. These walls evoked silver-backed mirrors, emblems of the narcissism that suffused the times. The Silver Factory served as a galvanizing forum for artists, silkscreeners, actors, filmmakers, debutants, activists, hustlers, and misfits, all of whom somehow contributed to the creativity. It was here that Warhol emerged as an avant garde filmmaker, pop art progenitor, and all-around superstar.
Bond No.9's Warhol-inspired fragrance, Silver Factory, is that of an ambiguous male-female gender. Silver Factory is a smooth, smoky, spicy blend of interlacing incense (a key scent of the ‘60s), wood resin, and syrupy, seductive amber. It has a heart of jasmine, iris, and violet—a scent that Warhol was especially fond of. These slightly dissonant florals combine to evoke a metallic effect—that of warmed-up, molten silver. For the merest hint of coolness, a handful of cedarwood is thrown in.
Like all Bond No.9 fragrances, their bottles are a work of art. Much like Warhol's mission to challenge the world to see art differently, Bond No.9 takes on that challenge by creatively capturing Warhol's essence of being in both Silver Factory's fragrance and in the design of the bottle. The slender bottle, with a background of textured silver (so fashionable this season), displays a unique graphic inspired by the Campbell’s Soup Can design in bold colors as created by Warhol in a series of his colored Campbell Soup Can silkscreen paintings in 1965: dissonant blocks of turquoise and purple, with the distinctive Campbell’s script in mustard yellow.
Silver Factory will be available in December for $230 for 3.4oz. Available only in a 100 ml flacon, Andy Warhol Silver Factory will be sold at Bond No. 9’s four New York boutiques, at www.bondno9.com, at Saks Fifth Avenue nationwide and at saks.com
