Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb (2011): Spicy Boys & Flowery Girls {New Fragrance} {Men's Colognes}
The designer duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren better known as Viktor & Rolf will launch a new masculine fragrance more than four years after having introduced their first men's potion called Antidote. The new perfume is called Spicebomb in reference to their pillar feminine fragrance, Flowerbomb.
To create the new masculine pendant to it, they decided to codify perfumed manhood as being convincingly expressed by spices - nothing absolutely new here - except that an intense focus on spiciness might help further characterize what a masculine scent is all about. Perfumer Olivier Polge, who already created Flowerbomb, went back to the drawing board for Spicebomb....
He preferred to emphasize what is perhaps less commonly felt for a men's scent, namely the fact that it could be experienced as an explosive jus. Men's colognes are most commonly offered in eau de toilette concentration - an enduring step-up from the discretion of the after-shave - and in general tend to be tuned down, with a number of notable exceptions, when compared with their female counterparts.
But Olivier Polge has already helped redefine that self-effacing mode in masculine perfumery with Dior Homme, a willfully textural iris perfume for men.
The nose decided to bring out the potentially unconventional aspect of a perfume being touted as a "spice bomb". He conceived two main accords meant to be polar opposites to each other. The first one was dubbed "fiery" and "addictive"; it rests on notes of chili, saffron, leather, tobacco and vetiver. The second one was tagged as being "icy" and "explosive" with the help of notes of bergamot, grapefruit, elemi and pink pepper. The latter note is said to be a "key" one. You might be reminded of Bang by Marc Jacobs at this point for its heavy reliance on pepper, albeit black pepper.
The perfumer said that “Viktor and Rolf wanted an extroverted, outspoken fragrance,”so that it might be less in-your-face than implied by the suggestive name.
The action and dynamism of the perfume will be suggested, besides its name and notes, by explosive shelves that will mimic an explosion of perfume. The bottled is a stylized hand-grenade by Fabien Baron: as we always say, "Do not make war, wear perfume."
Model Sean O'Pry in the ad by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin was made to look almost like a Manga and is reminiscent of the aesthetics of Avatar by James Cameron.
"The scent will first be launched on Jan. 23 exclusively in Harrods in the U.K. and in Bijenkorf in the Netherlands. Then it is to be introduced elsewhere, including a mid-February debut in France and a March 1 kickoff in the U.S.
The 90- and 50-ml. eau de toilette Spicebomb sprays will retail for $95 and $75, respectively. The 200-ml. shower gel is to be $28, and the 100-ml. aftershave balm, $48."
Via WWD
