Sisley’s Izia brings the D’Ornano rose to life

Rose fragrances are tricky because there’s always the danger of smelling old-fashioned — like your mother, or worse, your grandmother.

Not so with Izia, Sisley Paris’ first floral scent.

“Rose is hard to make modern, but this one is very modern,” says Sue Lewis, Sisley’s Asia-Pacific director of distributors and travel retail.

Izia was a personal passion project for Isabelle D’Ornano, wife of Sisley’s late founder Hubert D’Ornano. The fragrance is named after her, in fact: Izia was her childhood nickname growing up in Poland.

“Isabelle is the DNA of the brand,” says Lewis. “She created all the fragrances and is involved in the product development of the skincare. She’s a very elegant lady who speaks four languages and has incredible style.”

In the rose garden of Lancut Castle, where the aristocratic Izia grew up, her favorite flower was a rose that bloomed only in late May. She loved it so much she brought it to France when she married Hubert, and planted it in her Loire Valley garden. It is now known as the D’Ornano rose.

Inspired by its unique fragrance, she sought a perfumer to capture and bottle it, but it took years before she met the right one: Amandine Clerc-Marie, who’s composed dozens of scents for other fragrance and fashion houses like Thierry Mugler and Chloé.

Isabelle sent Amandine a bouquet of D’Ornano roses with a note asking her to recreate the scent, and the perfumer came up with the rose accord at the heart of Izia.

“It’s a combination of roses,” explains Lewis. “The top notes are a little bit citrusy — white bergamot, pink peppercorn — so there’s a sparkle. When you come into the middle note you have the rose, but around it are other flowers like jasmine, lily of the valley, and peony, wrapped with green angelica to lift. The base is musk, amber, and cedar wood to anchor and hold it all together. It’s essentially floral and feminine, but there’s also some citrus and musk.”

Just as it takes five flowers to make a bouquet, five women were behind Izia’s creation: Isabelle, Amandine, Isabelle’s daughter Christine D’Ornano, Quentin Jones, and Isabelle’s granddaughter Sonia.

“It was Christine who saw the work of Quentin Jones, a British graphic artist who’s worked with many, many brands and created images for a variety of people, from Victoria Beckham to Miley Cyrus to Roger Vivier,” Lewis says.

Jones’ “rock-n-roll collage” style informs the ad campaign starring the Botticelli-an beauty Sonia, who’s “not a model, she’s a medical student and very serious about her studies,” according to Lewis.

Even Izia’s bottle is a work of art, shaped by Bronislaw Krzysztof, a Polish sculptor Isabelle has admired for many years. “He did the cap for our first fragrance Eau Du Soir, and has designed all the accent pieces for our fragrances,” Lewis says.

Based on two abstract pebbles washed by the sea and gleaming in the sunlight, the smooth, organic curves of Izia’s bottle fit perfectly into your palm with gold flashing beneath the pink, evoking the sunny core of the D’Ornano rose.

“Since we launched Izia in Europe, America, and Asia it’s done extraordinarily well,” Lewis says. “People just love the fragrance and lots of men like it to buy as a gift.”

A departure from Sisley’s original roster of warm, sensual chypres like Eau Du Soir and Soir De Lune, which are top sellers at Rustan’s along with the sweet, youthful Eau Tropicale; the fresh, green, unisex Eau De Campagne; and the fresh, woody citrus Eau D’ikar for men, “I think Izia is going to change people’s perception of Sisley fragrance in Asia,” Lewis says. “Once people discover Sisley fragrances they’re hooked. We’re known as a skincare brand rather than a fragrance brand, but Izia is going to change that. It’s a beautiful modern take on a floral rose.”

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Izia is available at Sisley counters in Rustan’s The Beauty Source.

Coach New York bottles NYC’s downtown-chic style

If you love Coach bags, then Coach New York is the fragrance for you. The packaging alone bears Coach hallmarks like the turn-lock, hangtags, and, of course, the famed horse-and-carriage logo.

“Coach New York is a fragrance synonymous with brand,” says Kimi Abapo, brand manager for Luxasia.

With Kickass star Chloe Grace Moretz as the all-American It girl representing Coach, the floriental-fruity fragrance — inspired by New York City’s energy and downtown casual-chic style — should appeal to fellow millennials with a trio of notes: juicy green pear paves the way for an elegant heart of Alba white rose before drying down to a sensual base of white cedar wood.

The pale-pink bottle doesn’t have a cap but a clever turn-lock spray nozzle, with a double hangtag hanging from its neck and the Coach logo engraved on the glass. Even the pink box pays tribute to Coach’s leather-ware heritage with a leather-grain effect reminiscent of a pebble leather bag.

“Coach is known as the original American house of leather, founded in 1941 in the heart of New York City,” Abapo tells us. “It’s a pioneer in the leather-goods industry known for its high-quality leather and craftsmanship. The Coach woman is modern and authentic, which makes her inherently cool.”

Sold in over 50 countries through 4,500 wholesale doors, Coach is celebrating its 75th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the brand partnered with Inter Parfums, one of the world’s biggest fragrance conglomerates.

Though this means that all fragrances prior to Coach New York will be phased out, it signifies a brand-new start for Coach, according to the vision of creative director Stuart Vevers, who is taking the brand from affordable to more modern luxury.

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Coach New York is available as an EDT spray in 30-ml, 50-ml and 90-ml bottles and perfumed body lotion at Rustan’s The Beauty Source and SM Stores.