The pursuit of subtle elegance, rooted in quality and sustainability, has been consistently practiced and preached by the Italian fashion label Brunello Cucinelli for decades. The house’s very DNA is coded with the ethos of effortless high fashion of impeccable craftsmanship and timeless style. If your wardrobe consists of fewer but higher quality pieces that you will cherish and wear forever, then fast fashion will be the furthest thing from your mind and your shopping bag.
It is no surprise then that Brunello Cucinelli’s approach to fragrance is similar: Choose quality, buy less, and use it well. With newly launched refillable bottles, the brand is even more solidly committed to creating eternal products with longevity.
The house has two fragrance offerings, a women’s and men’s version, and each is grounded in elements of classicism, with a hint of surprising whimsy — the very essential makings of a signature scent. Brunello Cucinelli Pour Femme starts out with the freshness of Calabrian bergamot and Sicilian mandarin, spiced up by a hint of pink pepper. That gives way to a heart of orange blossom which mellows into comforting cedar wood, earthy vetiver and rich olibanum, drying down to a sensual musk and amber base. The surprise ingredient here is a creamy, spicy chestnut accord. “I was inspired by the natural colors of Brunello Cucinelli garments, by the lightness and softness of its cashmere. So, I created a perfume that is rich and ethereal at the same time. I thought of Umbria, of the Cucinelli woman so sophisticated and never showy, and of the enveloping sensation of cashmere,” says Firmenich perfumer Daphné Bugey.
Brunello Cucinelli Pour Homme begins on a zesty note, with Calabrian bergamot that’s lifted with spicy hints of black pepper, angelica and ginger. A resinous, vibrant heart was achieved with the unexpected notes of juniper and cypress, rounded out by Clearwood, an achievement of biotechnology that gives radiant hints of amber and patchouli. Firmenich’s master perfumer Olivier Cresp was moved by the enduring legacy of house Cucinelli. “I thought of a perfume based on notes of woods and resins, elegant and distinctive. The ingredients that make it unique are cypress and juniper, they give it an authentic and ancestral character, a real call of nature. I chose the best natural quality ingredients to create a perfume beyond trends, which can be loved by all generations, like a cashmere garment that is handed on from father to son,” he says.
And to further cement the brand’s commitment to sustainability, each of these perfumes are created by using several upcycled ingredients, as well as natural materials harvested from special sustainable projects in Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, Haiti, France and Nigeria.
The sustainability efforts don’t end there. The impeccably crafted flacons are crafted from 15% post-consumer recycled glass — fine glass for the female scent and a grooved version for the men, and are encased in aluminum in a warm brown hue and classic silver-gray, respectively.
The new refillable bottles are also crafted of glass and make it simple to top off the fragrances. Simply remove the spray from the original bottle and pour the juice from the refill bottle inside. They were carefully designed to stop automatically to ensure there is no wastage or product spillage.
If a forever scent with enduring appeal is on your wishlist, you can’t go wrong with Brunello Cucinelli, a master at that game.
