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Acqua di Parma

Colonia

1916CitrusCologneItaly

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Editorial notes

  1. 01

    Yellow art-deco cylinder, black bakelite cap, Sicilian lemon and Calabrian bergamot in the bottle. The thing has not changed since 1916.

  2. 02

    Born in a Parma artisan's atelier as a refined Italian answer to the German colognes that dominated European bathrooms before the First World War.

  3. 03

    Adopted by Cary Grant and David Niven in mid-century Hollywood, and earlier by the Italian Royal House. Rescued from near-extinction in 1993 by three Italian fashion executives; LVMH bought the brand in 2001.

  4. 04

    An anonymous in-house composition launched in 1916 around lemon and bergamot, with a verbena-lavender heart and a sandalwood-cedar base.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active. Unchanged since launch.

An italian citrus eau de cologne.

Composed by
—
Country
Italy

The pyramid

Top
sicilian lemoncalabrian bergamotsweet orange
Heart
bulgarian roseverbenalavenderrosemary
Base
sandalwoodcedarpatchoulivetiverbenzoin

The brief

Created by an artisan perfumer in Parma in 1916 as a refined Italian alternative to the German eaux de Cologne dominating the era.

Name'Colonia' — simply the Italian for 'cologne', signalling the house's debut and only fragrance for decades.

The flacon

Cylindrical yellow art-deco flacon with a black bakelite cap, a packaging design unchanged since launch.

Footnotes

  • Colonia was the official fragrance of David Niven and Cary Grant in mid-century Hollywood, and adopted by the Italian Royal House in the 1930s.
  • Acqua di Parma was rescued from near-extinction in 1993 when bought by a trio of Italian fashion executives; LVMH acquired the house in 2001.

The Curator's Note

A century of looking exactly the same is its own kind of innovation.

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