Venice, the fabled floating city, has long served as a muse for artists, writers, and craftsmen. Italian painter Canaletto’s luminous Rococo cityscapes immortalised its shimmering waterways and grand architecture, while Claude Monet’s impressionistic views captured Venice bathed in an ethereal glow. In literature, Thomas Mann’s “Death in Venice” uses the city as both a setting and a character, embodying beauty and decay while, more recently, installations like Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “The Floating Piers” evoke the aquatic wonder of Venice’s geography.
The newest creative debut to draw inspiration from Venice is Bottega Veneta’s creative director Matthieu Blazy’s inaugural fragrance collection. A masterful homage to the city’s storied legacy, this olfactory offering – featuring 100 per cent natural origin essences from around the world – intertwines Venetian heritage with the brand’s signature artistry.
The Venetian spirit, and its historical significance as a hub of cross-cultural trade and encounter, is channelled through five unique fragrances, each blending natural essences from across the globe.
Colpo di Sole evokes the warmth of the Mediterranean with Moroccan orange blossom and French angelica oil, and Come with Me strikes a delicate balance of Italian bergamot and French orris butter. The salt sea inspired Acqua Sale blends Spanish labdanum and Macedonian juniper, the spicy, seductive notes of Déjà Minuit feature Madagascar geranium and Guatemalan cardamom, while Alchemie is an opulent blend of Brazilian pink pepper and Somali myrrh.
True to Bottega Veneta’s emphasis on craft, the collection’s bottles are works of art themselves, each sustainably crafted and refillable. With rippling forms inspired by Murano glass and bases carved from Verde Saint Denis marble, the design nods to Venice’s artisanal heritage.
The fragrance collection, alongside the brand’s pre-spring 25 ready-to-wear offering, is available to purchase at the new Sydney boutique, located at 74 Castlereagh Street.
