Donna Born in Roma Purple Melancholia

Donna Born in Roma Purple Melancholia is an eau de parfum for women by Valentino, launched in early 2026 alongside its masculine counterpart. In France the house describes it as a fruity chypre, in the United States as a warm floral: a plum accord opens it, osmanthus and jasmine form its heart, and vanilla extract holds its base.

Brand: Valentino
Launch year: 2026
Gender: Women
Olfactory family: Chypre
Secondary families: Fruity Floral
Concentration: Eau de Parfum
EAN: 3614274626834 (30 ml) · 3614274626841 (50 ml) · 3614274626858 (100 ml)

Published September 16, 2026 · Updated September 29, 2026

Where to buy

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Valentino launched Donna Born in Roma Purple Melancholia in early 2026, as a duo with Uomo Born in Roma Purple Melancholia, an eau de toilette. The two fragrances extend the Born in Roma line, introduced in 2019, and the house presents them as a new shade in its olfactory wardrobe.

A positive melancholy

For Valentino, Purple Melancholia celebrates a moment of deep and positive introspection, a nostalgic embrace of the experiences that have shaped each of us. The house wants it designed to be worn and to be remembered, as an invitation to reopen one’s most comforting memories.

In France, the house sets it at the end of a night spent in a Roman palace, whose trace it would keep. Now Smell This announced the launch on December 16, 2025, and placed the eau de parfum among the fruity chypres.

Olfactory pyramid

Top notesThe first minutes
- Plum
Heart notesThe heart of the perfume
- Osmanthus
Base notesWhat lingers
- Vanilla

Composition

Read the full composition

What critics say

Kimberly Wilson, of Essence, counts Donna Born in Roma among her favorite fragrances and finds Purple Melancholia darker and bolder. Osmanthus is not to her taste, but she sees it as the first flanker in the line able to exist without the Born in Roma name.

Read what critics say

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Longevity

Sillage

Season

Occasion

Resembles

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The advertising

Adut Akech and Anwar Hadid, back

Adut Akech and Anwar Hadid, reunited as in 2019, front the campaign built around the question “who is your purple”.

An advertising film released on Valentino Beauty’s YouTube channel, posted in February 2026, brings together Adut Akech and Anwar Hadid. The two models were already the couple in the Born in Roma images unveiled in 2019, presented at the time by the brand as its first interracial couple in advertising.

The campaign is organized around a question, “who is your purple”, referring to the person whose presence enriches a life.

The launch also went through an event: a private Valentino Beauty House in London, on February 19, 2026, during London Fashion Week, where global ambassador Colman Domingo acted as host.