Something about Fragrances that makes us all fall in love with the scent of beauty.
Whether it's a story to be told, a feeling of expression or how we see ourselves -
Fragrance tells the story of our lives...
Interview with Alexander Vreeland, the story of a true Fashion Legend, Diana Vreeland, through the luxurious fragrances.
The Haute Report sits down with Alexander during his personal appearance at Neiman Marcus Houston Galleria to get the inside scoop on how he keeps a Legacy alive.
Running late, as my usual self, I catch Mr. Vreeland upstairs as he prepares for lunch at the Mariposa Restaurant...
We briefly chat about our love for Houston as we take a seat and a couple of my tattoo's, before I began with,
"So, what's new with the collection?"
AV: The collection was inspired because of a documentary film my wife did on my grandmother called, "The Eye has to Travel". What came out of the documentary was my grandmother's legacy, reaching men and women of a very broad range of ages, in a very wide range of countries.
In fashion, there are very few heros and my grandmother was one of them. The film had such a broad success, that the question became, what could we do in her name to touch people and become a part of people's lives? And, fragrances are very personal but they really need a story, a dream.
She had a dream, a story that's compelling that people could really relate to.
We built this collection, very centered, on my grandmother's love for colors and her love for words.
And, that dream is part of empowerment, fearlessness, confidence, making an effort to look great. Being creative, having wonderful ideas. An uplifting part of what fashion has.
GB: So, each scent, bottle, like this one has more of a somewhat chocolate color, Extravagance Russe, what's the story behind it?
AV: It's based on her love for Russia. She had two exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum on Russian clothes and that's what it's based on.
For example, the new one launched this year, is called "Smashingly Brilliant" and it's based on her love of Capri. So, each one has a story and a story board to go with it and we sort of tie in her experiences with the fragrance.
GB: Nice! I love that! I also love how the bottle is basically designed.
Especially, with the little tassles around the neck.
AV: It was created by Fabian Baron, who has done all the advertising for Calvin Klein for 20 years and he's also done lots of fragrance packaging for Armani, Burberry, and Prada. One of the greatest fragrance packaging people out there, so that's who created our top and bottle. A magnetic top, very rare, it snaps on with a clean crisp closing and engineering wise, a real tricky thing to do.
GB: Awesome! And I know it's a unisex collection for either male or woman.
AV: Day or night!
GB: That's also great, too! Because who doesn't want a fragrance that you can spritz on in the day and carry on into the night. I live for a fragrance that I can wear all day long.
Which is your favorite?
AV: Right now, it's Smashingly Brilliant.
Because it's fresh!
I live in New York and we're waiting for Spring to come and we're ready for Springtime, so the fragrance makes me think of bugs, birds, movement, and nature coming back again.
GB: It brightens you up!
AV: Yes, it brightens me up! (chuckles)
GB: What about your wife? I know she has a lot to do with this. Does she have a favorite from the line?
AV: She has a lot to do with everything! (chuckles)
I predicted, Smashingly Brilliant was going to be the the #1 fragrance last year, and I was right!(chuckles) Which is rare in my household. LOL!
She's been wearing the Outrageously Vibrant a lot lately. It's a cassis patchouli. You could practically eat the ingredients in it. It's a little sweeter and a little more velvety than the others.
GB: Does that come across from your grandmother's different travels or experiences? I mean, I know it's based on her love of colors and words but to come up with the unique scents and the ingredients being used in it, how do you come up with that?
AV: She wasn't really a literal person. You know, people ask, "what did she wear?" and "did you recreate what she wore?" No, I really wanted to be inspired by her life and say, if she was 35 yrs old, what would she love, what would she wear and what would she do and really base it upon that. We created something in that spirit of what she did but really relevant to our lives today.
GB: Love it! So far, I love the collection!
I'll have to admit, Smashingly Brilliant, is my favorite! The bottle attracted me and then the scent was so sweet! Just as you said, "It's perfect for Spring!"
AV: A lot of citrus fragrances don't last very long, you put them on your skin and it disappears within the next hour. This one here, you put it on and the next morning you can still smell it on your skin. Long lasting fragrances are important. My grandmother was one who believed in strong fragrances. So, we wanted to have bold fragrances and not one that disappears on you.
GB: Right?! A lot of citrus fragrances don't last that long, in a few hours, your back to spritz-ing again, trying to refresh.
Music to my ears!!!
I chuckle a little more with Alexander before he joins his guest for lunch as Sarah (Director of Marketing for the brand) gives me a quick spill on the stories behind each fragrance.
Sarah, being as lovely as she is, of course, there was some quick girl chat before we started. *wink*
The stories to match the fragrances!
Perfectly Marvelous ~ It's the red bottle and it's jasmine and cashmere woods - which is a musk and there's also some sandalwood in it. Inspired by Diana's living room, "The Garden in Hell". Everything in this room was crazy red! Red prints, red couch, red wallpaper, red everything. It's really fun! So, inspired by her love for red.
Extravagance Russe ~ Inspired by her love of Russia and the Ballet Russe. This one is amber, vanilla bourbon and musk. Super warm and cozy. Great on men and women. There's also a candle in this scent.
Absolutely Vital ~ Indian sandalwood, a great universal scent and it layers really well with others. Mrs. Vreeland use to dab a little bit of Indian sandalwood behind her ears, every single day, before she left the house. So we say that, "It's Absolutely Vital that you must wear this every single day before you leave the house".
Outrageously Vibrant ~ The most fruity of the scents. Cassis patchouli and rose. Designed by Carlos Benaïm (well known master perfumer). It starts out super fruity then has an interesting dry down, a nice velvety finish. You smell them all now, then you smell them later and it's like different layers as it dries down.
Simply Divine ~ Our #1 best-selling fragrance, overall. It's a tuberose and not your grandmothers tuberose either. LOL! It's a very modern interpretation, super feminine. It actually has the entire plant of tuberose in it. Whereas, normally you'll get just a little bit of the flower but this has all the elements of the plant, so it's more dynamic than your usual. Also, there's nutmeg in it - which adds more to the elegance.
Smashingly Brilliant ~ Very fresh, springy, and summery. There's lemon and bergamot and juniper - a huge big blast of citrus. In the beginning, very refreshing and different from the rest of the collection. Another great universal scent! Inspired by her love of the Capri. Dianna traveled there quite often and she's actually the one who brought the Capri sandal to the U.S. She was in Pompeii outside of Naples where she saw this great drawing and she went to Capri and told them, "I want a sandal that looks just like this", so the Capri sandal, she got them and brought them back to the states and really popularized them.
Sarah asked, if I'd like a spritz of the Smashingly Brilliant and of course, I immediately stick my wrist out. "Mmmmmm and it overpowers one of my favorite ladies", I say to Sarah, we chuckle a little as she says, "we won't tell Karl!" We laugh more as I tell her, No! We can tell him I love this! LOL!
Each fragrance has a fun story behind them all and I'm utterly in love! Okay, dangerously in love!
Now, that's how you keep a legacy alive!
The entire collection was AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL!!!
Exclusive only at 11 Neiman Marcus's and Bergdorf Goodman and in 15 countries around the world.
Launched five fragrances last year, and the sixth, Smashingly Brilliant, this Spring.
*New Fragrance Alert*
#TheHauteReportApproves
Want more and need more? Check out your nearest Neiman Marcus
For more on the wonderful Diana Vreeland:
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