I write a lot about what I think it takes for a perfume brand to succeed. When it comes to designer brands, I have always extolled the influence of the brand creative director on the fragrance side. If that person can give even a little bit of time to the perfume side of the business, it usually turns out for the better. If the brand just signs their name away to a big cosmetics brand, things usually turn out generic. Unfortunately an example of this for the worse is Bottega Veneta Illusione for Him and Illusione for Her.
Daniel Lee
In 2011 when Bottega Veneta entered the designer fragrance world the then creative director Tomas Maier had a direct hand in the perfumes. It had been that way until he was replaced last year by Daniel Lee. The collection under Hr. Maier was one of the best designer fragrance ones we had. There were clear through lines to the history of the brand with the releases always being among the best mainstream releases of any given year. I was wondering what part fragrance would play in Mr. Lee’s vision for Bottega Veneta. Based on these two first releases it seems like the answer is to give it over to the licensee without giving it another thought.
Illusione for Him was composed by perfumer Antoine Maisondieu. This is a perfume that is exactly what its note list promises. Citrus top accord of orange and lemon, woody heart accord of cedar and base accord of tonka bean with a dollop of vetiver. It smells like everything else on the men’s fragrance shelf which was not the case before.
Illusione for Her was a team effort by Amandine Clerc-Marie and Annick Menardo. It starts with a pedestrian bergamot and fig leaves top with orange blossom at the heart and wood sweetened by tonka bean in the base. This is what commercial perfumery smells like; pretty and bland.
Both perfumes are pitched on the more transparent side probably because that is the current trend. Inexplicably to me both perfumes have some of the worst longevity I have encountered for a mainstream release; barely 6-7 hours.
I am saddened to see this happening to a designer brand I regularly pointed to as how it can be done. It looks like that will no longer be the case as long as Mr. Lee is creative director. I just hope they don’t discontinue the previous releases.
Disclosure: This review is based on samples provided by Bloomingdale’s.
–Mark Behnke
