Velvet Orchid the fragrance with velvet orchid signed Tom Ford — Tom Ford likes to draw with his perfumes a woman rich in her contrasts and her complex personality, a sensual and delicate woman, elegant and exceptional.
When Tom Ford imagines perfumes, they seem inseparable from his haute couture creativity, at once elegant and daring, luxurious yet somewhat offbeat. Black Orchid, his very first perfume released in 2006, is one of those perfumes that resembles no other and yet brings people together because it is unprecedented and unique. After clear public acclaim, Tom Ford would offer a softer variation on this opulent oriental in the form of a prettier, more luminous orchid, Velvet Orchid.
Velvet Orchid, or Tom Ford's velvet orchid by a quartet of talented perfumers
Tom Ford loves to surprise, to dare, even to shock. He is, moreover, the one who established the porno chic style; he is also the one who did not hesitate to put forward provocative campaigns for Gucci or, now, for his own label Tom Ford. But Tom Ford also loves perfumes and sophistication, a certain sense of elegance and luxury…
He would thus find in Pierre Négrin the ideal perfumer to compose for him his very first fragrance, which he wanted as an ode to a flower that has no scent yet evokes everything, the black orchid. And Black Orchid presented its powerful oriental notes in 2006… Success was immediate; the public was won over by the power and originality of this flower, as gentle as it is dangerous.
How could one imagine that Tom Ford would stop there? Beyond his Private Blend fragrance collection, he would have the audacity to offer a perfumed sister to his now legendary Black Orchid under the name Velvet Orchid.
The beautiful velvet flower Velvet Orchid would grow at the hands of a team of four perfumers, a rare occurrence in perfumery, which generally prefers collaborations between two. Yet each of the talented creators of Velvet Orchid (Antoine Maisondieu, Yann Vasnier, Calice Becker and Shyamala Maisondieu) managed to find their place and compose, for this condensed blend of luxury and femininity, a sublime score that would result in a harmony of flowers and divine sensualities.
A floral oriental perfume in tune with the times, Velvet Orchid
As we have seen, the creation of a composition such as that of Velvet Orchid is rarely carried out among so many perfumers. Yet Tom Ford perfumes are so complex and structured, so sophisticated and full of contrasts, that ultimately this creation involving multiple talents seems relatively evident.
Thus Velvet Orchid opens on citrus and honeyed accords that could undoubtedly be attributed to Calice Becker, given her evident love for citrus. It would seem that the heart, resulting from the marriage of classic notes of Rose, Magnolia, Hyacinth, Jonquil and sun-kissed, opulent notes of Orange Blossom, Jasmine and heliotropin, is the fruit of Yann Vasnier's work. Finally, the animalic and sensual depths of Velvet Orchid would be attributed to the Maisondieu perfumer couple who, between the softness of Suede, Vanilla and Peru Balsam, propel us into the woody strength of some warmth of Sandalwood, Vanilla and Labdanum.
This Velvet Orchid is alluring, yes, but ultra-feminine, hushed, mysterious. A perfume in stilettos, certainly, but one that spares us any form of vulgarity and all those notes that are too fruity, too sun-kissed, too sweet. Blue Gardenia about Velvet Orchid.