Nina Ricci plays on women\u2019s erotic fantasies with its new fragrance L\u2019Extase, due out from March this is the first\u00a0flagship launch from Nina Ricci since 2006.<\/p>\n
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Nina Ricci’s\u00a0first scent, L\u2019Air du Temps, was meant to distill the spirit of peace after the war, its Nina fragrance from 2006 aimed to capture the essence of a girl verging on womanhood. Cut to today, and L\u2019Extase, which means \u201cecstasy\u201d in French, has been created\u00a0to represent\u00a0– and liberate –\u00a0a more mature desire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we try to do with every creation is an ode to femininity,\u201d said Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albesa, chief brand officer at Puig. \u201cIt\u2019s all about poetry and this idea of showing the eroticism of Nina Ricci, which has always been implicit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this launch we want to really consolidate the Nina Ricci house with a third pillar,\u201d he continued, adding that in perfumery \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of femininity and sensuality, but eroticism was never taken seriously. So that\u2019s why we decided to go in this direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copious research and focus groups were poured into the project, which is fronted by Laetitia Casta \u2014 the first true big-name face of a Nina Ricci fragrance. The idea was to have a French woman exuding sensuality.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaetitia Casta immediately came to our minds,\u201d said Albesa, adding she was highly involved in the creation of the advertising campaign.<\/p>\n
In the beginning of the film ad, lensed by Gordon von Steiner, Casta enters an elevator and stands next to a man. Their hands are close, and a sexual tension is evident. Then there is a series of steamy, artful shots of the pair more intertwined, including in a bed, with little actually shown outright but lots implied. At the end, it\u2019s left unclear whether the encounter was a dream or reality.<\/p>\n
Destined for TV and cinemas, the spot comes in versions including 20, 30 and 45 seconds. There will be an online push for L\u2019Extase, as well, with features like a digital platform on which people can choose among various endings of the film.\u00a0The print version of the ad, shot by Dusan Reljin, comes in single and double pages.<\/p>\n
L\u2019Extase\u2019s mauve degrad\u00e9 bottle with a black satin ribbon around its neck took a cue from a minaudi\u00e8re from the Ricci archives.<\/p>\n
\u201cA clutch is something very private, very intimate \u2014 it\u2019s something that you can really hold on to,\u201d Albesa said. \u201c[The shape was] to reinforce the intimate side of the fragrance.\u201d<\/p>\n
L\u2019Extase\u2019s outer packaging, in dusky pink, black and gold, has under its main flap the tag line \u201cLiberate your fantasies.\u201d Both the flacon and the box sport the address of Nina Ricci\u2019s home base in Paris, 39 Avenue Montaigne.<\/p>\n
The floral, musky and oriental fragrance was created with Takasago perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, working with Nina Ricci for the first time. It\u2019s made of two accords \u2014 one comprising notes of white petals, natural roses and pink peppercorn, while the other has benzoin Siam, Virginia cedar, musk and amber notes.<\/p>\n
The scent launched exclusively at the Galeries Lafayette flagship on Paris\u2019 Boulevard Haussmann on March 9, this will be followed by a countrywide rollout from March 30 and introduction into travel retail and duty free markets such as Heinemann Duty Free stores in German airports. The introduction in the rest of Europe is slated for April, South America in June and then the Middle East and Asia.<\/p>\n
Source: WWD \/ Puig<\/p>\n
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