When I got my first professional job in 1984 a large amount of my wardrobe came from the store Banana Republic. The whole adventure safari vibe of the store appealed to me. By 1995 when the brand branched out in to fragrance I had moved on. It wouldn’t be until 2006 when I seriously checked out a Banana Republic fragrance called Black Walnut. Perfumer Harry Fremont made a well-balanced tobacco and cedar fragrance that was good for the price. It was time for me to check back in another ten years on as they release a new five fragrance collection in celebration of their upcoming 40th anniversary of their founding in 1978.
The collection is dubbed the Banana Republic Icon Collection. It is made up of five different fragrances each representing one of the five decades of the brand’s existence. Each fragrance leads with the last two numbers of the year and decade they represent. Some, like 90 Pure White, is so emblematic of the rage for clean white musks in the 1990’s it seems historical. Most of them are straightforward but there was one which stood out 17 Oud Mosaic.
Claude Dir
17 Oud Mosaic is meant to represent 2017 and was composed by perfumer Claude Dir. Now don’t get fooled by the name there isn’t even a tiny bit of oud here; there isn’t even an oud accord. What “oud” must be shorthand for is Oriental. If it was re-named 17 Oriental Mosaic that would be more accurate. M. Dir combines some interesting choices to form a contemporary Oriental.
Those interesting choices come right from the top as M. Dir chooses white pepper and plum to open 17 Oud Mosaic. The spicy fruitiness leads to a heart of Turkish rose along with cardamom and saffron adding to the spiciness. It is this spicy fruity floral accord which captured my attention. There are hints of leatheriness from the saffron, the cardamom provides a freshness, the rose radiates in waves throughout. It ends on a generic musky amber base accord.
17 Oud Mosaic has 4-6 hour longevity and average sillage. The longevity is pretty low but for $25 you can freely reapply.
If you’re kicking around the mall I would suggest giving the Icon Collection a try. 17 Oud Mosaic is the least derivative but the others also have appeal, too. Well worth taking a fragrance safari on a shopping trip.
Disclosure: This review was based on samples provided by Banana Republic.
–Mark Behnke
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