Italian Perfumery (2/4)

Gucci, Trussardi, Mila Schön, Krizia, Versace, Giorgio Armani, Missoni, Gianfranco Ferré, Fendi, Benetton, Laura Biagiotti, Valentino, Luciano Soprani, Sergio Soldano, Mariella Burani, Les Copains, Lancetti, Byblos, La Perla, Sergio Tacchini, Moschino, Enrico Coveri, Dolce & Gabbana, Gianmarco Venturi, Blumarine, Nino Cerruti, Basile, Genny, Pomellato, Roberta di Camerino, Renato Balestra, Fiorucci, Iceberg, RoccoBarocco, Romeo Gigli, Best Company, Pupa, Hanorah.

These are the brands which offered perfumes on the Italian market in the 80s and 90s, and I'll save you the effort of counting: they're 38. From what I remember they were among the top sellers of the time: Italian perfumes -at least in their homeland- were quite trendy.

Then, in the mid '90s globalization wiped out the “Italian way” to perfumery, and only those brands which were able to comply with the world's average taste could stay in business, while the others have disappeared or were greatly reduced.

Among the brands that capitalized on what globalization offered there are certainly Armani and Dolce &  Gabbana with Acqua di Gio (1996) and Light Blue (2001). These two scents have been topping the charts of the best-selling fragrances in the U.S., Italy and other European countries for over ten years, earning literally tons of money. They were launched in the period in which the desire of neutral, water-y bouquets had created the Eau d'Issey and CkOne -1992 and 1994 - and Acqua di Giò and Light Blue follow the same fashion for fresh, clean, harmless, detergent-style scents. The reason why they're still so successful is something beyond my understanding, but it makes me happy that they are from Italian brands.

Also Gucci has been able to comply with the tastes of an international audience: Gucci Rush (1998) and Gucci Envy (1999) were two well-built fragrances which had a great international success.

Unfortunately, the following launches from these three brands (Armani, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana) weren't in the same level.

Pupa has grown over the years to become Italy's beloved cosmetic brand, but to do so, perfume hads been left behind. 

Valentino, Missoni, Fendi, Versace, Moschino and Laura Biagiotti despite not appearing in the top 10 best selling brands continue to offer their fragrances with some interesting results: Roma and Venezia by Laura Biagiotti, Moschino Cheap & Chic, Theorema by Fendi and Versense (Versace) are respectable scents and many people wear them both in Italy and abroad.

Other brands, such as master jeweller Pomellato, after years of neglect decided to give scent another try: just recently I read the news "In 2013, Pomellato is launching its first fragrance" in a trendy, famous webmagazine... well, a little research would have spared writing nonsense: the first “Pomellato” scent (1989) had a hint of citrus coupled with galbanum, a very classic, precious floral heart (rose, jasmine, ylang) and a soft, comfy base of woods and myrrh. A huge, 80s scent, whose bottle the was designed by prestigious glass-maker Dinand. (follows)