Armani Code

Giorgio Armani launched a men’s fragrance called Black Code in 2004, soon renamed Armani Code, according to Now Smell This and the website Bespoke Unit. Antoine Lie and Antoine Maisondieu composed it. The house made it the seduction code of an elegant man and described it at the time as a woody oriental.

A whole line

The line expanded as early as 2006 with a women’s version and has since grown to more than thirty creations, according to Ron Pitt, for men and for women. The 2004 eau de toilette remains its starting point, the one the flankers take as their model.

A refillable bottle in 2023

In 2023, Armani housed the eau de toilette in a refillable bottle and described it differently: green mandarin from Calabria at the top, lavandin from Provence at the heart, tonka bean absolute and cedar at the base. The house nonetheless asserts that the original composition remains the same.

Ron Pitt, who compared a 2004 bottle with a 2023 bottle, notes only minimal, barely perceptible differences, the new version seeming to him to last a little longer. The change lies mainly, in his view, in the notes the brand displays.

What the house says today

For Armani, the eau de toilette remains a house classic, ambery and woody, full of contrasts, that shapes a seductive and sensitive masculinity. It highlights ingredients with traceable origins and a bottle designed to last.