Balenciaga is launching its next major fragrance for fall called Florabotanica. The floral oriental perfume was composed by perfumers Olivier Polge (who also created Balenciaga Paris) and Jean-Christophe Hérault. The inspiration behind Florabotanica is described by Balenciaga as “not just a pretty flower, but a pretty dangerous flower.” Notes include mint, rose, carnation, vetiver, amber and caladium-leaf accord.
The ad campaign is going to be fronted by the “Twilight” actress Kristen Stewart. Florabotanica is set to be released in September. Via WWD
23 Comments
Katarina: Sounds intriguing! Thanks for posting. June 29, 2012 at 9:37am
Victoria: You’re welcome! I don’t mind a “dangerous floral”. 🙂 June 29, 2012 at 11:16am
Elaine: Nice name, ugly bottle and ad, and I have zero interest in Kristen Stewart or anything associated with her – I guess I’m not their target market! June 29, 2012 at 9:38am
Victoria: It contrasts so markedly with the elegance of their first launch! I have never seen Stewart in anything, so she’s not a draw for me. June 29, 2012 at 11:17am
Cams: She’s the Twilight girl. The orginal offering was remarkable – now I’m a little worried. July 24, 2012 at 3:45pm
Emily: If this actually does turn out to be a carnation-centric scent, I will have to check it out. I love carnation, and it seems that note doesn’t appear too often in new perfumes. June 29, 2012 at 6:59pm
Victoria: I don’t think that it’s likely to be carnation-centric, because the regulations prohibit the materials that were traditionally used for carnation accords, and this note is considered very old-fashioned. I would be very surprised if Balenciaga decided to do a carnation for its major blockbuster fragrance, but who knows! We’ll see in September. June 30, 2012 at 4:15am
L.: It’s not the case with a lot of perfume releases, but I *AM* the target audience here – I love Kristen Stewart and I love this bottle and corresponding print ad. The project sounds a lot like Vitriol d’Oeillet: a “dangerous carnation,” substitute the clove with mint. I think this could be better than VdO which to me never came together as a coherent composition and truthfully just wound up annoying me. Hope the mint gives this carnation an openness, and that the amber isn’t heavy-handed since that was a big part of what for me made VdO a fail. June 29, 2012 at 10:54pm
Victoria: They describe it as a floral oriental, so not sure exactly what it’s going to end up as. Since Balenciaga Paris wasn’t a big success for the brand, I imagine that they are going for an easier, less unconventional fragrance with their second launch. But I would love a different, modern take on a carnation. June 30, 2012 at 4:49am
eminere: I really, really don’t like the bottle, and having Kristen Stewart as the face isn’t helping things. June 30, 2012 at 2:24am
Victoria: I’ve just added another image from WWD. Not sure if I like it either. June 30, 2012 at 4:49am
Tadei: Why don’t you try the fragrance then post some real comments about it such what you like or don’t like about it. In other words, why don’t you focus on the fragrance itself. August 26, 2012 at 11:54am
Lucas: Is it just me or Kristen Steward looks like a zombie pumpkin on that add? June 30, 2012 at 6:41am
Victoria: Very psychedelic! June 30, 2012 at 10:20am
eminere: Haha zombie pumpkin July 1, 2012 at 9:19am
Natalie: I actually like the bottle and don’t mind the ads, although I can’t imagine I am the target audience (who is Kristen Stewart?!). Will be interesting to smell this, as I haven’t liked either of their last two releases, but am not put off by this note list. June 30, 2012 at 10:20am
Victoria: I really hope for a fun floral out of Florabotanica. The easy going, easy to love florals are always welcome, as long as they have an interesting twist. June 30, 2012 at 10:43am
eminere: This is a hot mess, sans the hot. And Kristen Stewart? Eww. July 1, 2012 at 9:17am
eminere: Oops meant to post this as a follow-up comment to your post! Thanks for adding the campaign visual. July 1, 2012 at 9:18am
Victoria: I think that the bottle is funky with that pink cube and a striped cap. I don’t really get the campaign, but maybe it looks better in higher resolution?? Well, I suppose that it’s ok as long as the fragrance is interesting. July 1, 2012 at 6:34pm
bluegardenia: i’ve never seen her in a movie but i think i love kristen stewart! she’s gorgeous, not an annoying blonde hollywood starlet type, and i like her faux-rebellious snarl in all the photos i’ve seen of her 🙂
in my opinion, anything balenciaga has to be tried since nicolas ghesquiere is an absolute genius.
florabotanica is a beautiful name too! and nice to see a ‘dangerous flower’ scent without tuberose! (even though tuberose is my favorite note in perfumery.) i hope this one smells as unique as it sounds. July 4, 2012 at 3:17pm
Ellen: I love it, cannot wait to get my hands on it. I love Kristen Stewart. It’s a bit pricey for my budget but seeing as it is Kristen i will splash out 🙂 August 12, 2012 at 5:52am
Tadei: I am not in Florabotanica’s targeted age group but I tried it yesterday. I have been wearing just about anything from Anick Goutal all of which are very soft, flowery or citrusy. At first Florabotanica came on strong so I went WOW! but it dried out to a nice powdery, woodsy and green note but you can still smell the rose note in the back. Florabotanica is not a sweet, sugary or fruity fragrance which is what you usually get with a fragrance for the younger crowd. In fact, Florabotanica is a lot more grown up that I expected. It is quite woodsy and exotic but in a soft way. I never thought that I would like mint in a fragrance but it works. It may sound strange but it gave me sort of a sense of well-being and relaxation as I smell Florabotanica on my writst througout the day. Yes, it lasted all day. Florabotanica is feminine without being sweet but I would also say that a man could wear it as well because it dries out to a woodsy note due to the vetiver. It is a bit unisex. I liked it and plan to get it. August 26, 2012 at 10:26am