Gucci Bloom: A Shot Of Spring

Alessandro Michele has made another debut with Gucci and this time with perfumer Alberto Morillas. They have captured the finest of ingredients from India and added a dash of the olden days when it comes to designing the bottle. Alberto Morillas shares with us on how his equation was with the creative director, what his personal preference for a fragrance is and what was the journey like while they were creating our favourite Gucci Bloom. Debuting in February, we have yet another thing to look forward to.

How is Alessandro Michele to work with?

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Alessandro Michele is a perfume lover and an extraordinary creator with a deep knowledge in perfumery. His vision for Gucci perfume is really rich, clear, ambitious and especially different! He guided me all the way when I created Bloom. He celebrates the authenticity, vitality and diversity of the women he designs for, and those that identify themselves in his vision. Bloom is as addictive as Michele’s fashion is.

You have used a lot of Indian elements in the fragrance, how did that happen?

As I was travelling in India, I discovered the rangoon creeper. This mysterious flower embodies the new scent’s concept and name, as it changes its colour from white, gradually darkens to pink then finally to red when it blooms and is used in perfume making for the first time. This flower is so special that it cannot be extracted, but displays the marvelous ability to change its appearance when opening up to the sun. It harbors this mystery within it. We decided to include its scent as a key ingredient for the final Bloom fragrance. This travel to India was also the occasion to develop a new extraction method for jasmine. We decided to extract jasmine close buds scent for the first time! It gives a really new perspective to jasmine sambac scented profile and I was glad to use it for the first time in Bloom too.

How did you go about choosing the ingredients of Gucci Bloom. Did you have a plan in your mind or went with the flow?

For Bloom it all started from Alessandro Michele idea. I flew to Rome and we began exploring Alessandro’s vision. He wanted a green fragrance that would transport to a vast garden filled with many flowers and vegetables, a bouquet of abundance. Bloom contains qualitative and innovative ingredients; state of the art extractions of the most feminine and sophisticated white flowers to irradiate the quintessence of flowers as I really wanted to encapsulate Michele’s modern vision of a Gucci woman. Bloom is tender and signed, recognizable.

You and Alessandro Michele have previously worked together on Guilty Absolut. What were the challenges you faced while creating both the fragrances?

When crafting Absolute Guilty for men, I focused on bringing all the Gucci house values into the fragrance. Alessandro wanted our first fragrance to be inspired from leather and leather goods. Walking through a Gucci workshop I could feel the emotion of the Italian heritage and true authentic luxury values from the craftsmanship know–how. I could feel the magic of the brand DNA. My objective was to recreate this unique atmosphere.

Tell us something about the key notes of Gucci Bloom.

The fragrance freshly opens on a tender blend topped by fragile jasmine sambac closed buds, then infused with petals of orange flower and jasmine. A beautiful white floral smell twisted with wild rangoon creeper, which star-shaped blossoms gradually darken from pink to red, adding a dewy fruity white floral signature with a touch of addiction. The heart of the fragrance unveils a floral concentrate made of the best natural qualities of my palette. A deep dive into the quintessence of floral elegance, around Bulgarian rose absolute, iris concrete, jasmine sambac absolute and lily of the valley. In the dry down, this mysterious floral elixir, bathed in a cloud of musk, is starring carnal tuberose and exotic ylang ylang. Flowers chosen for their naturally raw beauty and mystery. An intensely magnetic mix of power and seduction enriched with wrapping sandalwood.

What made you bring a garden into a bottle? What was the inspiration behind it?

Alessandro Michele wanted to create a scent reminiscent of an imaginary garden “a perfume with the scent of nature, optimistic and authentic, a rich white floral fragrance”. Alessandro has a lot of imagination and talking with him is a true source of inspiration.

He shared his true emotion with me and I managed to transmit it into a fragrance.

How long did it take to conceptualize the idea of the fragrance?

After our first conversation, it only took around four months to develop the fragrance, which is quite fast, believe me. Alessandro had such a clear vision of what he wanted. He is very knowledgeable in perfumery therefore the creation process was extremely fluid.

Do you personally prefer a woody fragrance or a sweet one? And why?

I do have a preference for fragrances that leave me with strong memory. I like perfumes which have a strong personality and character like precious woods.

Alessandro Michele always has an element of the retro era in anything Beauty he designs. If you were to relate Gucci Bloom to one of the eras, which one would it be and why?

Alessandro wanted a tender and retro bottle made of a tender pink, in porcelain, a material that he loves. The pattern floral also emphasizes this idea but I perceive the fragrance is very modern and even timeless.

What brief were you given?

As I explained, Alessandro Michele wanted a green fragrance that would transports to a vast garden filled with many flowers and vegetables, a bouquet of abundance. Always seeking for beauty, Alessandro Michele flourishes the freedom of women and infuses the new flamboyant Gucci identity with his free spirit. He has a lot of imagination and talking with him is a true source of inspiration. He shared his true emotion with me and I managed to transmit it into a fragrance.

Who according to you is a Gucci Bloom woman?

Alessandro Michele’s fashion is joyful, surprising and spontaneous. The women he dresses are flourished, natural, expressive: they are in Bloom. Gucci Bloom girl is true to who she is as an individual, she wears it for her own enjoyment, to help her seek pure pleasure in the simplicity of self-expression –she allows her personality to bloom.

From the February 2018 issue of L’Officiel India.