A high-falutin' opera from the man who brought us Ralph Lauren Polo Blue and Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce? That's right!

Earlier this week, Christophe Laudamiel, one of the industry's top perfumers (or "noses," as us perfumistas call them), completed the final sold out performance of his "Green Aria: A ScentOpera," a 30-minute opera accompanied by 30-plus scents, or as Laudamiel lovingly calls them, "characters."

In a darkened theater at the Guggenheim in NYC, the audience was treated to six-second blasts of a fragrance via a personal "scent microphone" affixed to the seats. Each smell helped tell the story about the tension between nature and technology.



Some of the opera's stars included "Absolute Zero," "Runaway Crunchy Green" and "Shiny Steel." Several had the fresh, clean notes we're used to smelling in Laudamiel's fragrances (Clinique Happy Heart and Estée Lauder Youth Dew Amber Nude, among them), but not all were so delightul -- one scent contained an extract from the droppings of a small African mammal. Island Michael Kors, this is not. (Yes, Laudamiere created that American fragrance, too.)

In a fun, fashionable twist, Thierry Mugler helped sponsor the experimental opera. God bless the eccentrics.