The Flora By Gucci: The Flora Garden Collection is a bouquet of scents inspired by the House’s renowned Flora pattern, Gucci Creative Director Frida Gianni explains:” “With Flora by Gucci, I wanted to express the loveliness of the Flora woman charming, romantic and optimistic. Now with The Flora Garden Collection I am celebrating multi- faceted way the Gucci woman expresses her personality.”

Flora By Gucci The Flora Garden perfume collection. L to R Top to Bottom: Glamorous Magnolia, Generous Violet. Gracious Tuberose, Gorgeous Gardenia, and Glorious Mandarin.

Giannini remarks: “Creating The Flora Garden collection allowed me to express the depth of emotions of every woman. Each fragrance is distinct, yet together all the scents embody the beauty and allure of this muse.”

I say all the perfumes in the Flora By Gucci The Flora Garden collection are on the floral side. My favorite from the collection is Gorgeous GARDENIA with fragrance notes of: red berries, pear, white gardenia, frangipani flower, patchouli, brown sugar accord. I just like the brown sugar and patchouli to spice up the uber floral perfume.

THE HERITAGE

As with Flora by Gucci, the inspiration for The Flora Garden Collection originates in an iconic design from the Gucci archives, rediscovered by Giannini.

The story began in Milan in 1966, when Prince Ranier of Monaco brought his wife to the Gucci boutique. Roldolfo Gucci insisted that Princess Grace choose a gift to accompany the bamboo bag she had purchased. The Princess requested a scarf. Rodolfo felt that the House lacked one sufficiently beautiful for the royal style icon and so he commissioned illustrator Vittorio Accornero to create the most beautiful print he could imagine. Accornero returned with his painting: the “Flora”, a sumptuos, multi-hued, flowered template destined to become a design classic.

Women fell in love with Flora: the motif spoke to their sense of beauty and femininity. Mothers shared their devotion with their daughters. One such daughter was Princess Caroline of Monaco, who sported a blouse in her mother’s print. Another was a youthful Frida Giannini, whose mother had been captivated by the pattern.

When Giannini, revived Flora on printed canvas bags in summer 2005, a new generation succumbed to its charms. In 2006, it appeared re-scaled, re-coloured and abstracted onto Forties-style print dresses, jewellery and evening bags. Now it has flourished to even greater heights in Flora by Gucci and The Flora Garden Collection.

THE DEsIGN

The Flora Garden Collection is packaged in a taller and richer incarnation of the contemporary classic Flora by Gucci design; this loftier bottle resembles the stem of a flower: slender, but strong.

The flacon repeats the Flora by Gucci family’s distinctive hexagon shape with a transparent cap set off by a chic black bow, complete with bamboo tassels alluding to another of the House’s iconic motifs. The Flora font instead is a tribute to founder Guccio Gucci’s signature.

Each bottle will reveal a different coloured juice – be it pale pink, green, blue, violet or yellow; their boxes emblazoned with the corresponding flower from the Flora pattern. The colours and blooms represent the various characteristics of The Flora Garden woman.

THE LINE UP

Gorgeous Gardenia, Gracious Tuberose and Glamorous Magnolia (in 50 and 100ml) will launch in Macy’s department stores/www.macys.com and sephora stores/www.sephora.com nationwide in April 2012.

Gorgeous Gardenia, Gracious Tuberose and Glamorous Magnolia (in 50 and 100ml) Generous Violet and Glorious Mandarin (100ml only) are exclusive to Gucci stores nationwide.