SCENTS OF PLACE
Salvatore Ferragamo pays tribute to its Tuscan heritage with a collection of evocative fragrances
Salvatore Ferragamo pays a tribute to Tuscany, rendered in perfume
When Salvatore Ferragamo decided to return to Italy in 1927, there was only one place he felt he could settle to continue a legacy that had seen him hailed as ‘the shoemaker of dreams’. The Italian craftsman had spent 13 years in the United States, first in Boston and then in Santa Barbara, where he made a name for himself, creating shoes for Hollywood stars including Clara Bow, and his compatriots Rudolph Valentino and the opera singer Lina Cavalieri.
Florence, the crucible of the Renaissance, was to be his new place of residence. ‘My father chose to move here and set up Salvatore Ferra-gamo because of its artistic background and strong artisanal tradition,’ explains his daughter Giovanna Gentile Ferragamo.
We have come to Palazzo Spini Feroni, the turreted Gothic palace that has been the house’s headquarters ever since, to celebrate the brand’s most comprehensive foray into fragrance so far. Tuscan Creations, a collection of 11 perfumes, is a tribute to the region’s rich culture and history and to Ferragamo’s long relationshipwith the area. The scents are the work of seven perfumers, tasked with devising a fragrancerange that illustrates the brand’s links with Tuscany (Fabrice Pellegrin, the nose behind many bestsellers including Diptyque Do Son and Jo Malone London Blackberry & Bay, took on five of them).
Some of the concepts lent themselves naturally to scent. Viola Essenziale, an elegant iris blend with top notes of mimosa and peach, is the perfumer Sonia Constant’s interpretation of the light above the hills in Florence, prompted by a visit to an iris garden near Piazzale Michelangelo. Pellegrin’s Testa di Moro takes inspiration from the odours of tanned hide and smoke that would waft through a workshop. The perfumer Alexandra Carlin, however, had a trickier job on her hands: recreating the aroma of marble.
‘When you receive this kind of project, on something that is part of the heritage of Tuscany, it is very challenging,’ says Carlin. ‘I imagine that for sculptors working on stone, there is a lot of dust. For me the iris root has an elementof dust to it, so in Bianco di Carrara it comes together with heliotrope, which is both soft and bold, for the idea of polished marble transformed by a craftsman. The top notes are citrusy and sparkling, like the crystals that come out of the stone under the light of the sun.’
The rest of the collection moves from Alex Lee’s green and floral Rinascimento (influenced by the lily, the ancient symbol of Florence), to the fiery La Commedia, a hypnotic blend of bitter orange peel, spicy nutmeg and chilli pepper, Natalie Gracia-Cetto’s ode to Dante’s The Divine Comedy.
Ferragamo’s heritage is reflected, too, in the colours and designs used in the collection. The cap of each flacon is adorned with the brand’s signature logo, and features the leatherwork and stitching with which it is associated. ‘We never neglect our history and codes,’ says Gentile Ferragamo, who, along with her family, took over the reins of the company following her father’s death in 1960. ‘You have to look forward and not be anchored to the past, but not forget the roots you have.’
As we leave Palazzo Spini Feroni, we fight our way through droves of visitors intent on taking pictures of the grand building. It is clear that Salvatore Ferragamo has become as synonymous with Florence as he once was with the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Salvatore Ferragamo Tuscan Creations eaux de parfum, £195 for 100ml, available exclusively at Harrods (www.harrods.com).