Ombré Leather, an eau de parfum in Tom Ford’s Signature collection, brought back in 2018 a leather that had appeared two years earlier in the Private Blend line. Created by Sonia Constant, a Givaudan perfumer, it pairs a black leather accord with cardamom, jasmine sambac, patchouli, amber and moss. The house describes it as a spicy floral leather inspired by its creator’s American West.
Thomas Dunckley, no great fan of leathers, finds it easy to love, plush and comforting; Marlen Elliot Harrison sees it as an easier-to-wear Tuscan Leather, softened by cardamom and jasmine.
Olfastory’s review
Thomas Dunckley, The Candy Perfume Boy
In October 2018, Thomas Dunckley admits he is not cut out for leather, which he often finds too dry, too smoky. Ombré Leather is the exception: a fresh, creamy opening, a pale suede effect, a raspberry note and an airy jasmine.
The leather reminds him of luxury goods rather than a saddle: plush, buttery, barely smoky, wrapped in amber and patchouli. Against Tuscan Leather, dry and intense, he judges it the opposite, frivolous and comforting, and confesses he really likes it.
Marlen Elliot Harrison, Fragrantica
In September 2018, Marlen Elliot Harrison describes an opening of sparkling cardamom over a floral, leathery warmth. The leather, subtly smoky, reminds him of a leather goods store; the jasmine, in his view, softens the whole and brings it close to Annick Goutal’s Duel.
Past the opening, the fragrance drifts toward a dusty gray, which is what the word ombré means to him, over a base of amber and patchouli. He sees it as an easier-to-wear Tuscan Leather, like its base married to a cardamom and jasmine tea.