White in Black Eau de Parfum

The name invites confusion, and it is best set aside from the outset: White in Black is not a flanker of Lalique White. The two fragrances share only the shape of the bottle, inherited from the 1997 Lalique pour Homme. Launched in 2021 and entrusted to Karine Dubreuil-Sereni, White in Black is a standalone composition, which the house presents as a masculine built on contrast — which is the whole point of the name.

The fragrance arrived on a market saturated with fresh, spicy, vanilla-laden masculines, and comparisons with Parfums de Marly's Layton followed it from the first weeks. It comes up in nearly every comment. The more attentive reviews qualify it: the kinship in the base is real, but White in Black opens on incense where Layton sets down an apple, and its sillage is less pronounced. The comparison mostly shows how standardized this register has become.

On skin, the construction reads in three clear stages: a sharp citrus opening, a heart of cold spices set against lavender, and a creamy base where vanilla and ambroxan take over. Longevity is judged good by most wearers, without excessive projection. This is a fragrance for cooler seasons rather than summer.

Lalique was a glassmaker long before it was a perfume house: it only launched its first fragrance in 1992. White in Black marks a deliberate turn toward the mass market, which critics have received in two ways — some see it as a retreat for a house known for riskier choices, others count it among the best-constructed launches of its year.