The thing about having a signature scent is that you buy your favorite one, and the bottle can last years. Brands love loyalty—but not that you purchase their product only once or twice a presidential term. For years they’ve solved this problem by flanking “pillar” perfumes with formulas reworked for intensity or seasonality: Calvin Klein’s Eternity has been spun off into Eternity Summer, Eternity Now, and Eternity Aqua for Her.
Now perfumers are dropping multiple bottles at once, pushing a concept called scent “wardrobing.” The hope: Customers will mix colognes to create a more distinctive trademark, much like you’d mix pieces of clothing to form a one-of-a-kind ensemble. And by “customers,” we mean millennials, who “like to change their fragrances to suit particular moods and occasions,” says Elizabeth Musmanno, president of the Fragrance Foundation.
In mid-May, Bottega Veneta released Parco Palladiano, six scents inspired by a Venetian garden that are numbered simply with Roman numerals. (They are unisex, cost $295 apiece, and, though not sold in a special box, they’re presented as a set—collect ’em all!) This follows Olfactories by Prada (10 bottles), Le Vestiaire des Parfums by Yves Saint Laurent (5), 10 Crosby by Derek Lam (10), and Jo Malone London’s Rare Teas release in April. “It would have been impossible to choose just one tea,” says Céline Roux, fragrance director. She ultimately narrowed it down to a half-dozen.
The Parco Palladiano CollectionI The first scent is the cleanest—it smells like sliced lemons and fresh-cut grassII If I is too intense by itself, add a spritz of this piney one to make the overall effect more subtleIII Green tea, a plate of quartered pears: Words like “vibrant” come to mindIV Vanilla ice creamV Bay leaf, rosemary, sage—notes from a kitchen gardenVI Not your grandma’s dusty rose perfume; this is like a fresh-cut bouquet, so if it’s too aggressive, mix it with the more herbal
To contact the author of this story: Jon Roth in New York at jrothjr@gmail.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bret Begun at bbegun@bloomberg.net.
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