March 28, 2024

Iman’s debut fragrance was a labor of love.

While creating her first fragrance during the pandemic, the 66-year-old supermodel paid homage to her late husband David Bowie with a series of scents sparked by memories of the rock legend.

“I found by creating this fragrance, remembering David and being in the house, it just somehow eased my grief,” she told People of Bowie, who died of liver cancer in 2016. “And I came through it.”

Spritzing on the star’s signature scent, Tom Ford Grey Vetiver, partially inspired Iman to create her own fragrance, Love Memoir by Iman Eau de Parfum ($84.95).

The scent features notes of the woodsy vetiver, along with bergamot, vanilla, blackcurrant and – a nod to Bowie’s British heritage – rose.

“There is an alchemy and magic to it,” Iman said of the recently-released scent, which pays tribute to her “epic romance” with the iconic musician. “I put in the woodsy vetiver that reminds me of David and the cologne he wore the night we met, and then the bergamot of Tuscany, where we were married.”

Iman's Love Memoir fragrance bottle
The cap of Iman’s Love Memoir fragrance also nods to her African heritage, per People.
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But the ingredients aren’t the only way the fragrance fuses the pair; the product’s packaging is also complete with nods to Bowie – from the ombre, sunset-inspired box, to the gold-hammered cap, referencing the stacked stones in the couple’s upstate New York garden.

“What I did to calm myself in this year that we were really stuck and away from our loved ones, I have a property that has lots of stones, so I started stacking stones,” the model explained to WWD. “In some cultures, there is a tradition of stacking stones and what it really comes from is it’s originally for creating memorials for people who passed away.”

Iman and David Bowie sitting at at table together
Iman and Bowie were married for 26 years prior to his death in 2016.
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Although Love Memoir marks her first fragrance, the star is certainly no stranger to the beauty industry, having launched Iman Cosmetics in 1994 followed by her HSN fashion line, Iman Global Chic, in 2007.

“As much as I find myself confident, I’m actually very apprehensive of starting things, especially businesses,” she added to People. “If David was not in my life, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to start Iman Cosmetics — he’s fearless in that way. He gave me the courage.”

Iman on David Bowie's shoulders
Iman told People her new fragrance is “both him and me.”
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The supermodel, who married Bowie in Florence, Italy in 1992, also opened up about her future, telling the magazine she will never remarry. 

“I still feel married,” she said. “Someone a few years ago referred to David as my late husband and I said ‘No, he’s not my late husband. He’s my husband.’”