About six months into [the process], the nose was like, “You know, people don’t make fragrances with rose. There’s only two on the market that have ever had any kind of impact. It’s the hardest scent to work with—people avoid it like the plague.” And I was like, “Oh, you could have told me that a bit earlier!” I think we almost brought the rose back in fragrance—having that naïveté is quite a benefit.
— Stella McCartney, talking to Style.com about the creation of her Stella fragrance, developed by perfumer Jacques Cavallier. A new Stella Eau de Toilette will debut in April. Read more at Stella McCartney Explains Why Fragrance “Isn’t All About Sex”.
The ad campaign features a very lovely young blonde, who is totally nude except for the images of perfume bottles blocking the parts required to be blocked in a family magazine. A nice photograph. But how can that image be about anything but sex?
Oh, and shall we list rose fragrances which predate Stella which “had an impact”
Agree, about the Lara Stone images!
But do list them…it took me a minute to think of any other than Paris! Then I added Nahema (although I’ve always heard it didn’t sell as expected). There are certainly plenty of other rose fragrances, but not sure about “made an impact”; perhaps it depends on how you interpret that.
YSL Paris!!
I said that one above 🙂
Joy!
Chanel No. 5! (I guess it’s an aldehydic floral but rose de mai is crucial to its smell)
Coty La Rose Jacqueminot! (It was HUGELY successful and basically made Coty)
I think he was right. Mainstream rose-focused fragrances were virtually non-existent when Stella came out. Niche, sure, but the Coty was long forgotten and Joy was already an old-school classic (and is not really what I’d call rose-focused).
It’s not about sex if she’s not wearing make up, makes sense. LOL. If she was wearing make up..now, that would be a totally different ad…ok. No ‘real’ retouching, not sure what that means. If there was retouching, there was retouching. Don’t try to be all natural, all woman..whatever..saying most ads make women feel bad about themselves/it’s all about sex..when you do the same thing. Just cause she wasn’t apparently PSd to the point of Julia Roberts in a Le Vie ad..doesn’t say much. I have Stella but it kind of makes me like my bottle a little less after that interview. It was a gift..I didn’t pay for it and when it runs out, it runs out. Not buying another. It’s a good rose(there are better ones, some much better)..but to take credit like that, idk..but yeah, depends on how one interprets. If not for Stella, rose would have remained an old grandma note that wore too much make up which made her too sexy because of that, thank goodness for Stella, keeping it natural and trendy…and less about sex by covering up privates with perfume bottles or eating fruit sensually…cause no other perfume companies do that…but when they do it, it’s too sexy. There was lipstick on that mouth one there..so was that one about sex? And the other ads not? Ugh.:P.
As far as roses go, I much prefer Serge, Rosine or S.S.S. over Stella. S.S.S. is cheaper too(I think). Just imo.
Not to mention Annick Goutal, source of quite a few beautiful roses!
“You know, people don’t make fragrances with rose.”
Uh? How many decades ago did this supposed conversation take place? Rose has been enjoying its renaissance in the fragrance world for a while now.
Stella came out in 2003.
Stella McCartney is right. In 2003, i used to work at Sephora Paris and soliflore rose perfumes were bought exclusively by old ladies. Paris, Tea Rose. 12 years ago, rose was the smell of grandmas.
Then she released Stella – the sensation of a freshly cut english rose, and women – and the other brands – rediscovered that rose can be trendy ( Chloé, anyone? )
Yep.
This is very interesting. So, Nahema, Paris, Stella, what other ones specifically?
I am guessing Cavallier meant Paris and Nahema, but of course I could be wrong. Not sure there are any others….he was talking about what was on the market at that time. Maybe you could make an argument for Tea Rose.