THE ONE GENTLEMAN by DOLCE & GABBANA
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their menswear division in style, Dolce & Gabbana have created The One Gentleman. Focusing on elegance and simplicity, the fragrance completes The One range (already including The One fragrances for both men and women), with an oriental scent that includes pepper, lavender, fennel and vanilla. This is a new venture for the Italian fashion house—an understated fragrance that shifts the focus towards elegance and simplicity. The bottle itself—stained glass with sharp edges, black and gold accents—perfectly captures the sophisticated mood of the perfume. The designers were inspired by their modern idea of the gentleman: “Not a man who lives in a villa with servants,” Stefano Gabbana explains, “but a man who lives following modern values. I think today’s defini- tion of a gentleman is someone who takes care of himself and of the people around him. A father who looks after his children is a gentleman. I think a surfer can be a gentleman, too…” The pair chose actor Matthew McConaughey (who also fronted the 2008 campaign for The One) in an advertising campaign shot by Jean- Baptiste Mondino. The fragrance is out worldwide in September.

GUILTY by GUCCI
Dangerous and sensual, Gucci’s new fragrance is dedicated to the ‘bold and daring glamgirl,’ a dark twist to the brand’s cur- rent collection. Gucci Guilty, out in September, is an oriental perfume with notes that include pink pepper, peach, lilac, gera- nium, amber and patchouli. Held in a precious gold case with the Italian house’s oversized and interlocking Gs on the front, the hypnotic perfume is presented in a short film directed by Sin city’s Frank Miller, and will be premiering in September during the MTV Video Music Awards. The 60-second movie features starlet Evan Rachel Wood and Chris Evans (both in the utterly glamorous advertising campaign for print) in “a sexy love tryst set against a futuristic cityscape,” filmed in black and white in the director’s signature style with a soundtrack by indie British band Friendly Fires. The feminine fragrance is dedicated to bold and confident women, with a strong feminin- ity and a glamorous attitude.

BANG by MARC JACOBS
An explosive blend for a flamboyant character: Marc Jacobs personally followed every step of the creation of his first perfume for men, to make it a unique fragrance that he would personally love. Aptly named Bang, the scent, launched this past July, is a blend of spicy tones, with a threesome of peppers (black, white and pink), as well as oriental notes of vetiver and patchouli. Himself the sexy front man of the advertising campaign, the designer is lying on a bed made of crunched aluminum foil, fully naked, if not for the over- sized bottle of Bang he holds. “[Being the protagonist of my own campaign] made sense. Men’s fragrance, unlike women’s in a certain way, is very personal,” the designer explains. The packaging is already iconic: elegant and sophisticated at first impression, made of smoky black heavyweight glass, it’s covered in industrial high shine silver on front and back. Featuring a punch-effect on the front, the logo is debossed on the impact site, leaving an embossed reversed logo on the other side.

AZURE LIME by TOM FORD
Tom Ford’s new fragrance is a journey through the Caribbean and Mustique. The designer took cues from the relaxed lifestyle of the islands to create his latest Private Blend Perfume, with a name that evokes exotic sceneries and eternal summers: Azure Lime. Recently presented and launching in September, Azure Lime is an eau fraiche that has vibrant notes of Mustique lime, Valencia orange, jasmine, violet and warm musk, to create an easy feminine scent. Already defined as a “holiday in a bottle,” Azure Lime is fresh yet elegant, a perfect blend of the charm that is typical of the Caribbean lifestyle. The precious perfume is held in a dark brown bottle, reminding of the old pharmacy packaging that is the signature style for the Private Blend collection, a precious line of unique fragrances. “There is a captivating sense of warmth and luminosity,” comments Tom Ford while explaining his new scent, “an old-world charm that is unique to Mustique.”

– Rosa Maria Bertoli