Escale à Portofino: Dior's summer Cologne settles in Italy. Building on its successes and the creative talents of François Demachy, the Dior house introduced in 2008 a collection of scented escapes representative of the tastes, colors and scents of its father Christian Dior.
Released in 2008, Escale à Portofino represents an Italian escape. Crafted from top-quality raw materials, Escale à Portofino brings together no fewer than 16 noble, natural essences. The Les Escales de Dior fragrances form a collection meant to take wearers to visit the world's most beautiful places. Each escale evokes the picturesque magic of an unusual, dazzling place. Here, the Dior house leads to the pretty port town of Tuscany, Portofino. An essence at once feminine, fresh and deliciously sensual.
François Demachy at the helm of Dior's most beautiful journeys
Every year, in the spring, the Dior house presents escales as incredible as they are unexpected. Escale à Portofino is the first essence in the collection. Les Escales de Dior are authentic fragrances, light and full of luminosity. At the helm of these olfactory journeys is François Demachy, the official perfumer of the Dior house since 2006. Born in Cannes in 1949, he easily entered the perfumery school of the Charabot company. After a stint at Mane and at Chanel, François Demachy was entrusted with the role of official perfumer for the Dior house. Talented, artistic and a true alchemist, François Demachy is regarded as one of the greatest perfumers of his time. He has managed to combine the tradition of the Christian Dior house with an innovative spirit, largely thanks to avant-garde techniques. A lover of travel, François Demachy has not hesitated to venture to the most remote escales. Regarding Les Escales de Dior, he states that when the Dior house creates its perfumes, the journey goes beyond simple evocation: sourcing raw materials is also an opportunity to encounter different cultures and to establish lasting, privileged relationships with local producers, who offer the opportunity to obtain exceptional, high-quality raw materials.
Perfumed notes from Italy for Escale à Portofino
Escale à Portofino is unquestionably an essence with citrus scents. 16 natural essences come together to offer entirely new sensations. Here, François Demachy depicts the gentleness and calm of the small port village of Portofino. The composition opens with sparkling citrus notes, namely those of Italian citron, Calabrian bergamot and Sicilian petitgrain. The heart of Escale à Portofino releases notes that are both green and luminous, combining galbanum with orange blossom. The whole is heightened by juniper berries. Orange blossom comes mainly from Tunisia, Morocco and Italy. A quintessentially Mediterranean ingredient, orange blossom is highly prized in floral and oriental compositions. Bitter orange blossoms are treated with volatile solvents to yield orange blossom absolute. In perfumery, orange blossom gives off floral, luminous, jasmine-like and also honeyed tonalities. Finally, the base of Escale à Portofino is woody and sensual, thanks to the presence of cypress and cedar, paired with the bitter sweetness of amaretto almond, offering a final touch of elegance within this thoroughly Mediterranean composition.