Perfumery is a subtle art that integrates the body and the nose like no other. I must confess that even though I already have my share of perfume bottles on my bathroom shelf, I was not completely aware of the power of the scents and the difference between the elements altogether. Last Saturday I attended the presentation of the new perfume fromValentino in Rome.
In a very ‘educational’ presentation, we were explained techniques for recognizing the different elements that comprise their new perfume. The aroma of the jasmine, orange blossom and tuberose, for example, or the white truffle that gives the fragrance freshness, or the touch of strawberry wich makes it a bit sweet. White flowers, cedar (mmm), amber and vanilla are the other elements. It took them three years to develop this new perfume, a creation of Alberto Morillas (responsible of 90′s-2000′s hits like CK One, Carolina Herrera 212 or Kenzo Flower) and Oliver Cresp.
For a complete inmersion into the Valentino universe, we were invited to an exclusive visit at the Valentino haute-couture atelier at the Palazzo Mignanelli. An unforgettable experience.
We got to see a small group working on the corset of a dress, the veil of a wedding dress (an amazing wedding dress that we saw standing on one of the tables). We also got to see the dress that inspired the bottle: a short blue cocktail dress with a big white flower, built and shaped by hand, on the front.
La Maison Valentino is known for their flowery embroidery, and red dresses and we also caught a glimpse of that at the showroom. The dress that Jacqueline Onassis wore at her wedding, the one that Marisa Berenson wore in the photo below or the one that Julia Robert wore for the Oscars 2001 were all on display as pieces of history.
This heritage is present in the design of the bottle, with the flowers and the detail of traditional perfumery on the top. I personally like this soft fragrance, because even when it’s a conservative and luxurious statement, it has a bit of an edge which makes it more modern. As Tim Blanks once put it “haute couture for the Twilight generation”.
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