Blurring the lines between haute-couture and ready-to-wear, Ermanno Scervino’s designs have long wowed the fashion world. Now, get ready to fall for the equally stylish fragrance…
Ermanno Scervino was born when entrepreneur Toni Scervino and Creative Director/designer Ermanno Daelli teamed up at the turn of the millennium to pool their talents. Known for their attention to detail and love of opulent fabrics, the fashion house of Ermanno Scervino first launched a menswear collection in 2002, debuting womenswear at Milan’s Fashion Week the following year. Such was the rapturous reception that the brand was granted ‘Guest of Honour’ status at Florence’s Pitti Imagine trade show in 2005 – a mark of their success in those tentative first five years for any new company.
‘As a boy, I was immediately attracted to the world of beauty and aesthetics,’ Ermanno Daelli admits. His childhood was full of fashion fantasies, and he reminisces that he used to ‘spend the summer in Forte dei Marmi and the Cote d’Azur and winter in Cortina. These places were always crowded with the great divas of Italian and Hollywood movies, such as Monica Vitti, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor or Kim Novak.’
Among such glamorous icons, he ‘…dreamed, one day, to be the one who dresses such beautiful, talented and inimitable women.’ And though as an adult he lived in New York City – meeting such fellow creative minds as Andy Warhol along the way – his heart and those childhood dreams brought him back to the Italy, where the Ermanno Scervino factory is nestled among picture-perfect vineyards and idyllic Tuscan towns.
That Italian charm (and natural style) is infused in every single piece that emanates from the house – red carpet-ready gowns worn with brightly coloured puffa jackets more usually seen on ski-slopes; organza, tulle and lace dresses embellished with sequins using centuries-old techniques, passed on from mother to daughter (the atelier has three generations among employees, working side by side). Indeed, ‘The choice of the Tuscan capital as home of the fashion house was fundamental,’ the designer house comments, ‘because the “Made in Florence” tag represents a set of values given by tradition which is able to transpose in reality the sublime aesthetic ideas of Ermanno Scervino.’
Worn by celebrities and fashion lovers around the world – Amal Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie – there’s an airiness of the materials the designer favours in his collections and an insouciance in the way they are styled: exquisitely gauzy gowns worn with precisely (yet so-relaxed looking) Italian tailoring. Now, this refined but playful aesthetic is translated perfectly in the first perfume from the house. And with his love of strong, brilliant women, Ermanno chose a trio of female perfumers – Julie Massé, Véronique Nyberg and Mathilde Bijaouo – to compose it.
Ermanno Scervino for Women encapsulates the frothy frivolity of a couture dress, opening with an irresistible gourmand Giaduia (chocolate and hazelnut) accord shot through with the sunshine of neroli and the sharpness of green mandarin, balanced against a fluff of white flowers.
Julie Massé notes that ‘…composing a fragrance is like tailoring: mixing and matching raw materials, readjusting the formula, until it’s the right fit.’ Véronique Nyberg adds that Ermanno’s juxtaposition of fabrics, ‘…inspired us to create a multi-textured fragrance.’ Agrees Mathilde Bijaoui: ‘Giving texture to a fragrance is key,’ explaining: ‘In this creation, we created it from the top to the dry-down.’
That white heart simply billows with hushed, velvety tuberose absolute, a transparent jasmine and Jungle Essence extraction™ – an exclusive formula from the fragrance house MANE. Set against the creamy vanilla, cashmere wood and white musk of the base, the overall effect is of white tulle on a backdrop of sunshine, sparkling, refined, and simply beautiful.
One of the things we love best about fragrance is that is grants us mere mortals an insight into some of the most creative minds in the world – a wearable evocation of their inspirations to enhance and match our emotions. So while Ermanno Scervino’s gorgeous gowns and so-Italian tailoring may be out of reach for many, with the launch of a scent that captures the spirit and glamour of the runway shows in a bottle, we can now all wear a piece of the collection.
