Dubai, UAE, September 22, 2016:   Bottega Veneta introduces Parco Palladiano, a new collection of fragrances for women and men inspired by the Palladian gardens of the Veneto region of Italy, where Bottega Veneta was founded in 1966. Conceived and overseen by Creative Director Tomas Maier, the six fragrances are a collaboration with three perfumers. Each scent is an ‘olfactory trompe l’oeil’, capturing different moments and experiences in a Palladian garden. The collection is exclusively available at Paris Gallery in The Dubai Mall.

The Palladian gardens of the Veneto, the Republic of Venice, offer a dream of life. Classical architecture merges with landscape to create a perfectly balanced vision, ever evolving as the seasons pass. Designed by sixteenth-century Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, the villas and their gardens continue to inspire today. 

The Parco Palladiano collection goes to the very heart of Bottega Veneta, and its deep roots among the traditions and beauty of the Veneto region. The Veneto is the natural home for some of the world’s greatest artisans and craftspeople, with techniques passed between generations for centuries. It is an area where the timeless designs of the human hand sit in perfect harmony with the nature all around.

“Palladio is a source of endless inspiration for me in many ways,” says Tomas Maier. “My father was an architect who studied the work of Palladio, so his teachings have always been part of my life even before I started as creative director at Bottega Veneta. Palladio was an artisan as well as an architect who sought balance and harmony in everything. The Palladian gardens that inspire this Parco Palladiano collection represent a perfection on earth and an agricultural utopia.” 

Bottega Veneta’s prized leather workshops can be found in a restored villa outside Vicenza, a city that is famed for its Palladian buildings. Bottega Veneta values its relationship with craftspeople of many disciplines, whether their speciality is constructing the signature intrecciato bags or creating unique fragrances for the house. 

“I researched all the species that grow in these gardens in the region of Venice,” says Tomas Maier. “There are the different families of flower, woods, spices and fruit trees. Starting from there, the noses used these ingredients to come up with six scents, all very different and all quite beautiful.”

THE FRAGRANCES 

The result of over two years work, the Parco Palladiano collection is numbered by simple Roman numerals – I, II, III, IV, V, VI – to reflect the classical heritage of the Palladian villas. Just like everything created by Bottega Veneta, the Parco Palladiano collection expresses  the maison’s four cornerstones: fine quality materials, artisanal craftsmanship, contemporary functionality, timeless yet innovative design. 

Continuing the Bottega Veneta tradition of Art of Collaboration between Tomas Maier and world-renowned artisans in different fields, the Parco Palladiano collection features fragrances developed by perfumers known for their particular and elevated sensibilities: Michel Almairac, Daniela Andrier, Alexis Dadier. 

Michel Almairac has been a part of the Bottega Veneta fragrance story from the beginning, creating the debut signature women’s fragrance Bottega Veneta. He has continued his relationship with Bottega Veneta, also developing Eau Legère and Essence Aromatique.

Daniela Andrier has provided the women’s fragrance Knot as well as collaborated on the first men’s fragrances Bottega Veneta Pour Homme and Pour Homme Extrême.

Alexis Dadier is creating his first fragrances for Bottega Veneta with the Parco Palladiano project. “Tomas Maier is very inspiring to work with,” says Alexis, “because he has a very clear story in his mind about the world he wants to create with the fragrance.” 

“I am fascinated by their work,” says Tomas Maier. “With the Parco Palladiano collection, they have created fragrances that extend and tell a new story about the Bottega Veneta world.”

PARCO PALLADIANO I 

This fragrance evokes the early moment at the beginning of the day, when the sun begins to shine on a garden that is still dew-covered, immaculate. “For this scent, I immersed myself in that marvellous orderly world of the Venetian villas, creating a fragrance just as I experience the gardens,” says perfumer Michel Almairac.

The most noble and refined tree of the gardens is the magnolia, and this fragrance captures not just the flower but the full sensory experience of sitting under the magnolia tree: the woodiness of the bark, the cool shade of the leathery leaves, the strong sweetness of the petals. 

PARCO PALLADIANO II

“The cypress tree is emblematic of the Venetian landscape, its slender shape a link between Palladian architecture and nature. This scent has all the vitality of spring, very green and fresh,” says Alexis Dadier. 

The vertical scent of cypress leaves unfolds with a dual personality: a deep and dark green hand-in-hand with a stimulating bright freshness, further contrasted with the sharpness of pink pepper.

PARCO PALLADIANO III

This scent recreates a moment in fall, passing by a pear tree in a garden’s orchard, the pears nearly overripe and ready for harvest, falling from the branches into the green grass. 

The warmth of the sun-ripened pear is heightened by an infusion of fresh mint leaves. “It is an imaginary promenade where the seasons overlap like a labyrinth,” says Daniela Andrier, “and memories of gardens in bloom mingle with those of our childhood.”

PARCO PALLADIANO IV

“In the afternoon, the clouds of azaleas that cover the ground outside a Palladian villa are magical. I wanted to capture the sense of a garden in summer as the scent rises in the sunlight,” says Alexis Dadier.

The colourful azalea flower, rarely used in perfumery, spreads its smooth and solar perfume while an undertone of velvet chestnut brings texture to the fragrance revealing a luxurious landscape.

PARCO PALLADIANO V

This fragrance, created by Daniela Andrier, conjures up a walk towards the aromatic herb gardens near a villa. As the sunlight hits the gardens, the tree path provides brief shadow and adds to the scent of this perfect mid-afternoon moment.

Woody, slightly spicy, the aromatic breeze combines the crispness of laurel with sturdy rosemary and soft sage leaves. “My intention was to bring the elegance of these gardens to life, and also their imperfections, to render them even more romantic,” says Andrier.

PARCO PALLADIANO VI

The sixth fragrance, created by Michel Almairac in collaboration with Mylène Alran, centers on a sensual rose that has been in the sun all day long, tasty, spicy, almost ripe. 

“The rose is the most elegant of flowers,” says Mylène Alran. “It is the most elegant, the most intense.” The opulent rose bridges the gap between building and nature as it is picked and brought inside the villa for evening, its intensity combining with the warm woodiness of the furnishings.

THE FLACONS

Each bottle of Parco Palladiano reflects the traditions of Bottega Veneta and the Veneto region, with the house’s iconic intrecciato at the heart of the design. 

Intrecciato is the instantly recognisable signature of Bottega Veneta, the distinctive leather weave design developed and handcrafted by the house’s artisans. It was by focusing on the intrecciato that Tomas Maier started the revival of the Bottega Veneta, celebrating the extraordinary expertise that remains at its core today.   

Bottega Veneta’s motto “When your own initials are enough” expresses a philosophy of individuality and confidence, while reflecting the discreet and sophisticated aesthetic of the intrecciato signature design. Intrecciato shows Italian craftsmanship at its highest level and reveals Bottega Veneta’s understated luxury rooted in the quality of materials and artisanal tradition from the Veneto region. 

For the Parco Palladiano collection, intrecciato appears all over the flacon, cap and the packaging. The flacon itself is inspired by classic Venetian glasswork, an aesthetic that defines the Bottega Veneta fragrance house.

THE ITALIAN WORLD OF FRAGRANCE FROM BOTTEGA VENETA

The fragrances of Bottega Veneta tell the stories of quintessential Italian experiences. From the first scent, creative director Tomas Maier wanted to bring meaning to fragrance, evoking through scent specific Italian moments, capturing the timeless beauty and heritage of the land.

With each new creation a story begins, conjuring to life a distinct aspect of Italy, from the landscape and environment to the life lived in it. The approach is unique in fragrance, typical of the Bottega Veneta commitment to forging its own path. 

 “We have a natural evolution in everything we do at Bottega Veneta, and with fragrances it comes through the stories that we tell through scent,” says Tomas Maier. “We started out with women’s fragrance, then we moved to men’s. Now we have Parco Palladiano, and with them all we create a world, one that will always work together.”

Price: AED 1280 (100 ml)