When it comes to the five senses, Oscar de la Renta says his nose knows best. "My sense of smell is the strongest," says the veteran fashion designer. "The sense of scent has the longest memory."
As part of a 21-city tour to promote his new perfume, So de la Renta, the 65-year-old world-class couturier visited Macy's Union Square last week to give his devotees a whiff of the floral fragrance.
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| Photo: Reuters |
The quest for scented stardom has even wafted into the realms of sports and music. Michael Jordan recently introduced a men's cologne and toiletry line; the Spice Girls — all five — have body scents named after them.
Call it perfume mania. Call it celebrity scents and sensibility. Whatever you call it, a passion for potions is apparently something worth raising a stink about because big-name scents mean big-time bucks. According to a Ralph Lauren Fragrances report on the industry, the U.S. fragrance business garners a whopping $4.7 billion annually. American women own an average of five different scents; 80 percent wear fragrance on a daily basis and 47 percent use scented products from the same line.
It's not just the money that's alluring. Designers also want to keep customers sensory happy and sell a fragrance that embodies the lifestyle projected by their clothing lines.
"Fragrance should be the total part of the expression of an individual," says de la Renta. "It's like an invisible dress."
The dashing designer attributes a "big change in consumer attitudes" as part of the reason for launching his new pretty-in-pink packaged fragrance line.
"What we’re seeing is a new return to femininity," says de la Renta. "Women went through the aggressive '80s when masculine looks dominated the womenswear market. The woman of the '90s doesn't have to dress mannish in a man's world
anymore."
De la Renta speaks from experience when it comes to a fragrance that, unlike ready-to-wear fashion, endures several seasons — in some cases, even several years. "A truly successful fragrance is one a woman buys for the third and fourth time," he says.
So de la Renta is the designer's fourth fragrance for women. After his premier scent, Oscar, hit cosmetic counters in 1977, two more followed: Ruffles and Volupte. Oscar, now deemed a classic, remains a best seller. "It's still in the top five," says Michelle Ghelfi, cosmetics and fragrance manager at Macy's Union Square.
Eleven products constitute the So de la Renta line. Prices range from $15 for an antiperspirant deodorant to $200 per 1-ounce bottle for the parfum. The eau de toilette spray runs $42 to $54.
De la Renta says he had to sift through 1,200 possibilities for the new fragrance's name before finally settling on So. "We were always saying 'so this, so that,' the choice was obvious."
“Well-balanced, a little sexy, romantic," is how de la Renta describes So's aroma — a mixture of fragrant freesia, white lotus and tuberose. "It addresses all these facets," he says. "It has a personality and strong presence all the way through."
During his appearance at Macy's, the designer — flanked by two models in de la Renta cocktail dresses — sprayed So onto pink cards and extended wrists. De la Renta also signed autographs, paused cordially for snapshots and even gave a few hugs.
Oscar fans, waiting in a roped-off (in pink ribbon) line, included teenage shopaholics, career women and grandmothers. A scattering of men, young and old, rounded out the gawking bunch. One of the first in line, Blanca Flores of San Francisco, was tickled pink to greet the dapper designer.
"It's been my dream to meet him," she said. "I canceled an appointment just to be here." Another de la Renta fan, Telleha Lopez of Richmond, also spoke highly of the fashion legend. "He's a classy guy," she said. "He's not over the top and knows how to make a woman feel sophisticated."
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