Last week, in a beautiful sunlit suite at the Fairmont Dubai, Azyaamode sat down with Acqua Di Parma’s President, Gabriella Scarpa to discuss the brand’s history, essence and future. In a refreshing setting, surrounded by the pure elegance of Acqua di Parma fragrance bottles, Mrs Scarpa, a very proud Italian herself, walked us through the Acqua di Parma story; she passionately described where it all began, how the brand evolved and where it is going. Here’s what she had to say.
There is a significant connection between Acqua Di Parma and the Italian culture; what’s the story behind that?
It was originally created in Parma by a very aristocratic, elegant man who was also a famous painter. The family came from an aristocratic background where art, culture and elegance were at the center of their lives. In 1916 this same man decided to create this cologne because he felt the original fragrances were very strong. He thought an elegant man should have a very light and fresh fragrance to bring out his elegance. He decided to create Acqua Di Parma. He had his own laboratory where the fragrance was created.
The family continued to manage it since many years and they distributed the cologne only to tailors. It became the number one accessory for a man’s suit. This is why it is considered a lifestyle brand because it was not born as a fragrance; it was an accessory of personal choice. Over the years, it remained a very man-like fragrance because it was linked just to the men tailors.
In the nineties Luca di Montezemolo and Diego Della Valle bought the brand and started to present it in their shops and in some department stores. Luca di Montezemolo and Diego Della Valle are too aristocratic and very elegant. Diego Della Valle also created Tod’s, another lifestyle brand. With time, they realized there was a need for a woman’s fragrance, with a similar texture and scent. So it became not unisex, but male and very female as well.
Acqua Di Parma is the epitome of Italian craftsmanship and it is now available all over the world; that said, do you still think of it as just an Italian brand?
No, it is international. Obviously the origin is always Italian, 100 percent made in Italy. But it is now available around the world. Internationally, the Italian style is recognized as the best production at the best level of quality. For example, two years ago we decided to launch the ingredients of the collection and we started using oud. We have a lot of Middle Eastern people coming to Europe and asking for a kind of fragrance specific for the Middle East and so on, because they love Acqua Di Parma but the cologne was very light. We looked at oud, since we know that many brands have launched their oud version here in the Middle East, but it was too strong. We decided to include oud in the cologne in our own way. Everybody was so surprised to see cologne oud. It was a huge success all around the world. Everybody loves this transformation with oud in cologne. From the young to old, people from the Middle East very much appreciate the fact that we have transformed this oud to a very simple-to-wear fragrance. It is especially a hit with the new generation because the young are not so fond of this strong, strong ingredient, and they like the subtlety of our fragrance. Nowadays it is so successful around the world. The Chinese, the Americans, the English and the Italians… everybody is using oud. This was the start of the ingredient collection after which we did leather. Leather is very Italian in origin but it is very appreciated by everyone.
Now we are launching Ambra. Ambra is from Arctical origins but Marco Polo brought it to Italy in the twenties. There is a link between Asia and Venice. Venice is very much frequented by Asians; we know this because 60% of all our luxury stores’ business in Venice comes from our Asian clients. There are also a lot of Middle Eastern visitors who are attracted to Ambra. So of course the world is very important to our growth and success, but who we are and where we came from always stays with the fragrance.
You have repeated many times that it is all about elegance; is there any other characteristic you look for when you’re creating a scent?
Sure, there is always the DNA of the brand behind it. So the origin is linked to the art, culture, handmade elegance, refinement and so on. But art and culture are always behind this. For example, when I decided to launch Nobile, it was inspired by the typical aristocratic villa with beautiful gardens, because the garden is another form of Italian art. The Nobile is aristocratic because it comes from nobility and, it was inspired by flowers found in these kinds of gardens. The first one was Iris, which is the noblest flower. It is also the symbol of Florence well known around the world. The second flower is magnolia. Magnolia is a big plant that is very elegant and very refined and used a lot at weddings. Jasmine for example is another very international flower and in Italy you see many villas covered in Jasmine. It is considered an aristocrat flower and all Italians immediately recognize its scent.
We just recently launched the Rosa Nobile. Obviously there are so many fragrances using roses but these roses are very special. This is a very biological rose grown in the North West of Italy; it is a very special one and is used only by Acqua Di Parma. Rosa Nobile is very different from any other scent too because when we choose a plant or a flower, we choose the concentration of it. So it takes two to three years of time for us to create a scent and this depends also on the cultivation we choose. It is something that is original but it takes a lot of time.
What is it about men’s Colognia that makes it so timeless?
Yes, it is timeless because it represents the style. So it is really the kind of man that you can recognize for his style from far away. You can recognize Italians from very far because they are so elegant. Colognia will be evergreen. This bottle is old but it is still a modern bottle, and it will be a futurist bottle. It is almost 70 or 80 years old but it is still modern. Everybody loves this bottle.
What is your favorite perfume?
I use all of them; Rosa and Jasmine, but my favorite is Iris Nobile. It was the first one I created because it represents Florence, my style, my character and myself.
Next year marks the 100-year anniversary; do you have anything special planned?
Well, we will be launching Parma and putting it on the map again, because nowadays, Parma is more known for parmigiano and the aim is to bring Parma back to Parma, which is the DNA of the brand. We will launch it again because Parma is also very famous for the theater region, for example it is famous for the opera. We will launch all this knowledge of Parma and we will work to launch a new book on Parma and a new project for Colognia.
Is there a specific month?
May and our suppliers and artisans will be there as well as Azyaamode.
Do you have plans for new openings around the world? How about the Middle East?
Yes, sure! The brand is growing faster but in a very selective way. Our openings now are more in the direction of retail. We want to have more boutiques because this is the luxury style of the brand. We like to give our consumers the treatment, the experience and the services because we offer them a luxury approach.
So especially here in the Middle East we are planning for a few openings in this direction. We already have a very nice space and a great store manager and the brand will continue to grow faster. The brand will continue to grow here because this is one of the strongest growing markets and we expect it to be even more powerful in the future.
What is the story behind the horses?
Horses, because horse riding is a very elegant sport. Horse riding has already been used in the fragrance and cosmetics business. So we chose a special sport, which is, horse riding called the dressage. The dressage is something very unique, very selective and very high end. It is also special because of the way they dress in the dressage; it’s really very elegant and, not to mention that these are very special horses because they dance. So it is truly something very unique. Dressage is practiced by only a select group of people because it is very expensive and extremely exclusive. Like this, we make sure that we always stand out with our products and our messages.
Aline Agopian
