What could be more Bottega Veneta than fragrance notes that mimic the intertwined layers of the leather used in its iconic bags?
Come with Me EDP, Acqua Sale EDP, Déjà Minuit EDP, Alchemie EDP, Colpo di Sole EDP, all Bottega Veneta. Photo: Tina Patni
The house’s foray into the field weaves its own story under the creative direction of Matthieu Blazy, merging refined Italian luxury through raw ingredients with its five new perfumes. “The collection is inspired by the remarkable history of Venice, a city where we have deep roots – our name means ‘Venetian workshop,’” he explains. “As this long-standing hub of trade and exploration, Venice was this extraordinary crossroads of products, ideas, influences from around the world. I designed each fragrance to be a similar mix of ingredients from different countries and continents.”
Come with Me EDP, Bottega Veneta. Photo: Tina Patni
With formulas free from synthetics, Blazy continues, it was important to maintain an integrity in the ingredients used. “The collection also uses exclusively 100% natural origin essences, which is exceptional in the market, and means that each fragrance has a particularly subtle and dynamic response to the skin.” Because touch and materiality are so integral to Bottega Veneta’s design principles, he wanted to ensure this strong tactile quality was present in this latest extension of the brand. Blazy adds, “Each scent has a unique alchemy and expression with each wearer’s skin.”
Colpo di Sole EDP, Bottega Veneta. Photo: Tina Patni
Like the northeastern Italian metropolis with its 150 canals and intricate tapestry of mixed cultures, history, and modernity, the unisex perfumes spotlight an intriguing combination of notes. “Apart from drawing strong inspiration from our home city of Venice, each fragrance also speaks to our signature leatherwork, in the way it weaves together these different ingredients,” Blazy shares, saying that he likes to think of these creations as an Intrecciato – Bottega Veneta’s iconic weave – but of essences from north and south, and from east and west. Corpo di Sole is a delicate orange blossom absolute floral, while Acqua de Sale, the creative director’s personal favorite, mimics fresh saltwater drying on sun-warmed skin. Come With Me highlights powdery orris butter intimately, and Déjà Minuit and Alchemie both focus on spices, the former with cardamom and geranium, and the latter contrasting pink pepper with myrrh. “We expect Alchemie, with its precious mix of pink pepper and myrrh, to be particularly popular with our audiences in the Middle East, where there is a special appreciation for rich, deep fragrance,” Blazy posits, acknowledging the region’s emphasis on fragrance.
Déjà Minuit EDP, Bottega Veneta. Photo: Tina Patni
Bottega Veneta has before interpreted its brand into a fragrance, with its namesake collection previously available for a full decade. The house initially released 33 scents under four pillars between 2011 to 2021, when they were discontinued. But this latest offering, in addition to being the first overseen by Blazy, is also the label’s inaugural collaboration with parent group Kering’s new beauty arm: Kering Beauté, formulating in- house. Along with the fragrances, Bottega Veneta has premiered unique perfume bottle designs that underscore the collection’s position within the upper luxury fragrance category. “I wanted the bottle to be more than just a container. I wanted it to have the same enduring craft quality that distinguishes Bottega Veneta and to also speak to our heritage and homeland in Venice and the Veneto region,” reveals Blazy. “Like all Bottega Veneta designs, the bottle has a beautiful haptic quality. It has this smooth, rippling shape that sits in the hand very organically brings a primacy of touch, as much as smell, to the experience of the fragrance. There’s also an inherent sense of movement to the rippled form, in the same way that our bag design has always had this softness, flexibility, and philosophy of motion.”
Acqua Sale EDP, Bottega Veneta. Photo: Tina Patni
He goes on to point out the details paying homage to the house’s home city, like the recreation of the distinct air bubble effect that can be found in traditionally glass-blown pieces from the famed island of Murano. These bubbles are never exactly the same, making each bottle a unique, standalone work of art in and of itself. The flacons are perched upon a carved green marble pedestal. These bases, Blazy explains, are made of the same Verde Saint Denis stone used in the Bottega Veneta boutiques and is sourced from the Aosta valley in northern Italy. “It’s a marble you often find on the walls, flooring, and facades of opulent Venetian palaces,” he adds. The sculptural wooden bottle cap is the proverbial cherry on top. “This is a playful twist on Venetian architecture, since many of the city’s historic palaces are built upon wooden platforms and stilts,” says the designer. “Here, we put the wooden element at the top, rather than at the foundation. There is a different wood shade or color for each fragrance with a palette inspired by modern Venetian design.” What’s more, the bottles are plastic-free and refillable, in keeping with the company’s philosophy of craft and creativity, made, in Blazy’s words, to be “an object for life.”
Style: Mohammad Hazem Rezq
Set design: Jessica Locke
Producer: Julia Joseph
