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Gucci’s iconic floral print Flora is a good luck charm for Frida Giannini.
Three years ago the creative director of Gucci splashed the colorful design from Gucci’s archives over canvas bags to produce a knockout commercial success. This time, Giannini named Gucci’s latest women’s scent after the feminine floral pattern and, together with Gucci’s licensee Procter & Gamble Prestige Products, hopes Flora’s magic will create the biggest-grossing fragrance in the Gucci stable.
Flora is the second Gucci women’s scent, following Gucci by Gucci, created under Giannini’s creative reign at the Florentine fashion house. Flora is aimed at a younger customer. Comparing the scents, Giannini said Gucci by Gucci channeled the powerful Gucci woman, while Flora addresses a sensual, younger woman.
“Flora is lighter, the floral scent of course evokes a younger consumer, and she has a hedonistic, daring side. I don’t want to say that Flora is the daughter of Gucci by Gucci but maybe the younger sister,” said Giannini.
Asked how Flora fits into her lifestyle, Giannini added: “I will wear Flora in the morning and Gucci by Gucci in the evening.”
Flora was designed to open a door for the future development of a new category of Gucci fragrances intended to cater to a younger customer. “Flora is another side of the multifaceted Gucci woman,” Giannini said. “We have a huge space for the development of new scents, and now we are trying to build a new category. I want to re-create an entire panorama of scents under my vision.”
Turning to the archived Flora print for inspiration for the scent’s concept came naturally to Giannini. First used on a Gucci scarf made for Princess Grace in 1966, Flora was also utilized on many different Gucci apparel and accessory items — some of which Giannini’s mother wore.
“I was in love with the idea of a floral fragrance, and having the idea of naming the perfume Flora, everything was consequential. I wanted to give Flora a new freshness, so I decided to keep the same floral pattern but make it not so literal with all 25 colors, but black and white, more graphic and correct for the project,” said Giannini.
The black-and-white Flora print is featured on the scent’s packaging, but Giannini also printed it onto a butterflylike long silk chiffon gown worn by Australian model Abbey Lee in the scent’s advertising campaign. Shot by Chris Cunningham in a cornfield in Latvia, Lee is depicted in the middle of more than 40,000 silk flowers moving in tempo with the wind to the tune of an original remix of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” Inez & Vinoodh photographed Flora’s print advertising visuals.
Strobel said Flora would be backed by a dedicated Web site for the scent that will go live concurrently with the launch of the fragrance.
wwd / december 5, 2008
the fragrance is set to launch in april...