Something interesting happened in 2015 when Alessandro Michele was appointed creative director of Gucci. Apart from a new direction for the Italian luxury brand’s collections, it started to take much-needed bold risks with its fragrances, too. This was exemplified by the unusual leather fragrance Gucci Guilty Absolute EDP and the heavy florals of Gucci Bloom EDP. The recent launch of Gucci Memoire d’une Odeur EDP builds on that momentum.
It’s a unisex scent, which is pretty much standard in the niche category. But it’s still rare for a designer brand to market one of its big releases as a universal fragrance. Gucci also claims that it’s innovative in that it establishes a new olfactive family, mineral aromatic, but more about that below.
“It’s still rare for a designer brand to market one of its big releases as a universal fragrance.”
Perfumer
Alberto Morillas has created all of the recent Gucci releases. The Spaniard is one of the most prolific perfumers of our time and is well known for a slew of commercial classics. These include Bulgari Man EDT, cK One EDT, Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio EDT, Givenchy Pi EDT, Mugler Cologne, Tommy Hilfiger Tommy EDT, Versace Pour Homme EDT and YSL M7 EDT. In 2015, he launched his own perfume company, Mizensir, in Geneva, Switzerland.
The brand stresses that Morillas created Memoire d’une Odeur in close collaboration with Michele. This kind of partnership is not always the case in the creation of a designer fragrance.
MAKING MEMORIES: Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele with Harry Styles, one of the stars of the Gucci Memoire d’Une Odeur ad campaign, at the Met Gala in May 2019. Image: Gucci.com.
SO WHAT DOES GUCCI MEMOIRE D’UNE ODEUR SMELL LIKE?
Memoire d’une Odeur is inspired by the power of memories and their intimate link with the sense of smell.
The first thing that is noticeable about this fragrance is its camomile note. Morillas used the Roman version, which has been grown in the city for a number of centuries. It’s known for its sweetness, but here it has more of a herbal and green character.
Camomile is commonly paired with jasmine, so it’s no surprise to see the perfumer making use of this duo in the heart of the fragrance. He used an exclusive version of the floral – Indian coral jasmine – to give it a honeyed aspect. It’s not sweet or overpowering in the least. A big dose of musk brings cosy warmth. The woody drydown features notes of cedar and sandalwood. Vanilla enhances the creaminess of the latter.
What about the claim that this pairing of camomile and jasmine sees the creation of a new olfactive family: mineral aromatic? It’s a little over the top, as it’s not the first time this combination has been used in perfumery. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Gucci should be applauded for trying something different and that’s not trend-driven.
There are already many negative online reviews on this fragrance. Perhaps the high-profile media campaign across all channels created the wrong kind of expectations that it would be an intense experience. Instead, Memoire d’une Odeur is a soothing and soft scent. Using the memories analogy, it’s hazy and blurred, rather than vivid and hyper real. This makes it a far more interesting proposition.
R1 195 for 40ml, R1 635 for 60ml and R2 225 for 100ml. For more information, read here..