Valentino and his famous red

For over 50 years, the Valentino fashion house has been designing and releasing elegantly crafted couture for both men and women, and a ready to wear lines that feel anything but “off the rack”. Started by Valentino Garavani in 1959, after apprenticeships at Jacques Fath, Balenciaga and Guy LaRoche following design studies at the best Paris schools, he gave a new meaning to Italian elegance by creating designs that blended glamour with simplicity. His distinctive fashion designs and intense colors, including what is still called “Valentino red” to this day, dovetailed Italian passion and panache with sensible comfort and quality. By the mid-to-late 1960’s Signore Garavani was already being called the “Maestro” of fashion and his styling began to attract the attention of the rich and famous. Elizabeth Taylor, Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Princess Margaret and Andy Warhol were not only clients, but friends. The house released its first fragrance for women, Valentino, in 1978, and in the ensuing years, primarily the 1990’s and 2000’s, has released a diverse collection of fragrances, including five marketed to the male consumer.

Valentino by Andy Warhol, 1985

This year’s release, Valentino Uomo, is the first for men in eight years, since 2006’s V Pour Homme, offering a composition that encompasses classic features of cool floral and citrus with gourmand accents on a woody base softly draped in rich leather. When I first sprayed this on a scent strip at my local perfume counter, I was impressed. As it dried on paper, I was even more intrigued; yet it wasn’t until it hit my skin that it seduced me. Just as a suit looks good in the window or on a model, you have no idea until you slip it on how comfortable and well-fitting it is…or how you could have ever lived this long without it.

The face of Valentino Oumo, French actor Louis Garrelm

An opening of bracing bergamot and the arid woody aroma of myrtle flowers is as invigorating as it is Mediterranean. Having a refined floral air, midway between powdery violet and cool aloof iris, myrtle was used by perfumer Olivier Polge to add the perfect counterpoint to the sheer citrus. A truly continental heart composed of rich notes of dark finely ground coffee mixes and mingles with gianduja crème (a chocolate-hazelnut spread) adds a toasted, rather nutty sweetness to the earthy depth of freshly ground dark roasted beans. The result is indeed yummy, to the nose, and silken soft on skin; yet I wouldn’t completely categorize this as a gourmand. Leather slowly wraps around a grounding and warm cedar note, adding strength and enough masculinity to the base to anchor it, while maintaining a presence of delicious charm, class and culture in tandem with relaxed comfort.

Though Sgr. Garavani retired in 2008,the Valentino legacy of fashion finesse and refined elegance lives on under the eye of Creative Directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli; not only with timeless apparel; but in its current fragrance releases. This newest Valentino composition unites a very modern fragrance aesthetic with classic sartorial ideal of nonchalant luxury augmented with delicious delights and classic masculine tailoring. Sillage: average. Longevity: above average.

Notes: Italian bergamot, myrtle liquor, coffee, crema gianguja, smoky leather and cedar wood.

Disclosure: Review based on sample provided to me by Nordstrom.

Valentino Uomo is available exclusively at select Nordstrom’s in the US, on their website, and Valentino boutiques. It is available in 50 and 100 ML EDT with a line of body wash, after-shave balm and alcohol free deodorant. A full-sized four piece gift set is available in-store only as of 4/11/14.

John Reasinger, Senior Editor and Natural Perfume Editor