Azzedine Alaia – Alaia eau de parfum review

Alaia is the first perfume of the renowned Tunisian fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, which appeared in the market in 2015. By Luca Turin, as well as many other perfume critics, it has been named one of the best women’s perfumes in the last 10 years, and it is a living proof that a quality perfume can still come from a designer perfume scene, and that you do not have to break the bank to get yourself a real perfume.

Azzedine Alaia was known (unfortunately, he passed away last year) for knitted dresses, and through his perfume debut, he wanted to “intertwine” his memories of childhood and growing up in Tunisia with a modern oriental style, liberated from reeky scents and a tendency toward aesthetic perfection. He was praised by many divas of Hollywood like Grace Jones, Tina Turner, Madonna, Naomi Campbell, and other famous ladies: Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni.

The perfume composition of Alaia is simple but completely different from what we would expect from contemporary floral perfumes. Despite its clear profile as a leathery floral, with vague fragrant notes, a symbiotic mixture of rose and violet, this is not what is most interesting in Alaia. A peppery and leathery twist is. Just at that precise moment, we would have had a nice and pretty, but not fantastic creation. But the genius of Marie Salamagne added to all that the salty qualities that balanced the entire composition and created a wow effect, something like a marine, cucumber chocolate composition that is Black Orchid by Tom Ford.

Azadine Alaia’s desire was to make a perfume that would act like our second skin, which will provide the one wearing it with the feeling of being in some of the ethereal and wavering Alaia dresses:

My perfume is not reasonable – it makes time lie. My perfume comes from afar, from the very source of everything I am. The creation of this perfume was like confiding in woman, robbing her of thoughts about the future, and escaping together before she looks back. My perfume is made from the union of all the present moments, moments that I can not describe, but only to feel and transfer to the creation that is before us.

Alaia is not a perfume that will take your breath away. Its greatness does not lie in that direction. Like many similar fragrances: Narciso Rodriguez for Her, Bottega Veneta and Black Orchid, Alaia greatness lies in the feeling it gives to us. The woman who wears it is a rose, one of the many in the garden. She doesn’t need to be something else just to stand out from the rest of the crowd. She’s not attention seeking and does not shout “Look at me!”. But the one endowed with empathy and the ability to really see will find this seemingly ordinary rose rather beautiful and fascinating. In his eyes, she will be unique and precious. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Perfume creator is Marie Salamagne.