Oscar de la Renta will launch Essential Luxuries, a new collection of six fragrances inspired by "his most loved people, places and things", in September. The fragrances were developed by perfumer Calice Becker.
Santo Domingo ~ named for the city where Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic, and focused on tobacco. Other notes include citrus, mandarin, coriander and patchouli. In Eau de Parfum.
Granada ~ referencing the Alhambra gardens, the citrus floral features bigarade, bergamot, jasmine, orange and rose. In Eau de Parfum.
Oriental Lace ~ a dark gourmand oriental inspired by his ready-to-wear fashion, with notes of hoya carnosa, honey, bitter almond, dark cacao, clove and patchouli. In Eau de Parfum.
Mi Corazon ~ a floral fragrance inspired by his stepdaughter Eliza Reed Bolen; the notes include ylang ylang, tuberose and peach. In Eau de Parfum.
Sargasso ~ named for the Sargasso sea, with juniper, lemon and cucumber. In Eau de Cologne.
Coralina ~ representing a coral-colored stone favored by the designer; featuring violet, mimosa, orris, and woody green notes. In Eau de Parfum.
The Oscar de la Renta Essential Luxuries fragrances will be available in 100 ml for $150 each, and will be exclusive to Saks Fifth Avenue (starting with the New York flagship store) and Oscar de la Renta boutiques.
(via wwd)
I’m only paying attention to this because it’s Calice Becker.
I have a feeling that will be true for many perfumistas.
Same here.
Yep.
Another exclusive collection? Yawn…
I know. At least they’re not outrageously expensive.
Oriental Lace sounds positively Lutensian, although he would have called it Dentelles d’Abysse or something. Based on the lists of notes, it’s the only one of the six I’d even consider trying. Well, maybe Santo Domingo: tobacco is usually worth a sniff.
He certainly would have come up w/ something better than “Essential Luxuries” — not a great name for high end niche.
Hard to tell from just the list of notes. Especially since a few were more terse than the others. My usual complaint…100ml? Really? How about 15-20-30 or 50ml bottles? If you’re going to release so many fragrances at one time, give us options.
But then just anyone could afford them and they wouldn’t be luxuries!
Chanel did the same thing with their Exclusifs: they were only available in 200-mL bottles for three and a half years, and then in 2010 they finally released them in 75-mL bottles, which is still a lot but at least it seems reasonable compared to the lifetime’s supply that 200 mL would be for most of us.
Spot on. If everyone can afford it or gain access to it, it’s not exclusive. It’s all about increasing the desirability of the brand, often by making people long for something they can’t have.
I’m always amused at Chanel referring to those 75 ml bottles as ‘travel’ size! Yeah, right.
I like most of the De La Rentas…… At 150 a pop they are beyond my regular spending limit and CERTAINLY out of the “giftables” category…
Still I will pay attention…
I’m a De La Renta fan. I love his traditional poufy dresses and I wore the original fragrance exclusively for years (starting as a high schooler in the late 90s when everyone else was wearing Ralph, go figure). And I friggin’ love the recent Esprit d’Oscar, although admittledly Live in Love was a disappointment. Also, Calice Becker. Color me intrigued.
I used to make fun of the word “essentials” all the time. From Spinal Tap: MCKEAN: “It’s such a fine line between stupid and…”
SHEARER: “…and clever.”
Aren’t exclusives collections like these usually a good thing? I feel like there’s a much better chance of finding something more personal to fall in love with than there is with a blockbuster or celebrity release.
I suppose, but there are so many of them, and based on experience, I no longer assume a limited distribution “luxury” collection will have been assembled with care or be worth the extra $. So, just depends!
got it. makes sense. i guess the juice is so often not related (in terms of ‘luxury’ or quality or originality) to how it’s packaged and priced!
Hahah I agree the name Essential Luxuries sounds like a bargain brand!
Wouldn’t it be nice to get an Essential Luxuries Discovery Set?
The name sounds like a big box store private label brand.
I love Calice Becker’s Killians, but she also did Vera Wang Rock Princess, didn’t she? This is almost twice the price of the Vera Wang and almost two thirds the price of the Killians. Theoretically they could be fairly good – we’ll see!
Here we go again…