Ferragamo Spicy Leather
Ferragamo (2021)

A beautiful combination of aromatic (fresh and intoxicating) spices, citrus, leather and woods. Ferragamo Spicy Leather by Salvatore Ferragamo is a masculine leathery-spicy main accord with an unfortunately noticeable overly synthetic woodiness. This fragrance was launched in 2021 and created for the historical florentine Maison Salvatore Ferragamo by perfumer Antoine Maisondieu (Lancome, Montblanc, Ex Nihilo, Van Cleef&Arpels, Armani etc). Nothing to share with the classic stuffy/mossy/aldehydic/barber-shop/animalic and somewhat decadent spicy leathers from the old tradition (Hermès Bel Ami 1986, vintage Guerlain Derby 1985, Valentino Vendetta Pour Homme 1991 or Aramis by Aramis 1966 etc) since Spicy Leather is a quite modern brand new "brighter" (but woodier) take on the theme. The aroma revolves around this central accord of bright molecular (vaguely "liquid" and almost balsamic in vibe) saffron (really fresh and kind of fruity) and soft leather. The latter smells kind of fresh/"liquid" a la Acqua di Parma Colonia Oud (2012), smooth, mild, languid and wet for a while, just before a stark rugged woodiness gets enveloping the elements with its (to me overdosed) dry, amberish and kind of medicinal embrace a la Fan di Fendi Pour Homme (2012). The former definitely jumps on mind for the spicy leather accord but also for the aggressive synthetic lingering ambery-woodiness coworking with it on skin along the dry down. Spicy Leather smells basically kind of fresher (if compared to Fan di Fendi Pour Homme) with a really prominent citric saffron (the real protagonist of the olfactory fatigue imo) while Fan di Fendi Pour Homme smelling drier, darker, less freshly spicy and more leathery on my skin. A truly virile fragrance with a sort of projecting fresh/fruity/peppery spiciness and a stark sandalwood providing woody virile restraint along dry down. Spiciness is quite aromatic (almost minty with a heady clary sage), at the beginning roughly hesperidic (strong bergamot) and somewhat musky-oriental in vibe (several spicy Lattafa - as Bade'e Al Oud Oud for Glory 2020 - Initio or Nabeel jump vaguely on mind due their freshly exotic projecting spiciness). The note of leather is never massive, on the contrary this is mostly a suede/saffron/sandalwood combo with hints of spicy (curcuma + saffron + hints of benzoin?) sweetness around its boudaries, indeed, imo. Sandalwood, ambroxan and black pepper nail down the quite virile elegant gentlemanly vibe of the aroma imo while is a pity the ambery woodiness being such massively chemical on my skin (despite far more expensive perfumes from brands a la Montale, Al Haramain or Mancera tend smelling even more synthetic on vibe). Performances are more than satisfactory on my skin since the aroma lasts hours and hours with a great spicy projection. Hard to find I recommend it to all those on a budget lovers of "aromatic spicy suede" kind of fragrances.

A modern interpretation of a leather fragrance in the style of the iconic Bel Ami. Starts off with an equally bracing but modern citrus opening over a horse saddle leather that broods from the beginning under a dark black pepper note that has lots of texture, hissing and fizzing to intimidate. As the pepper note settles in the mid, the leather note becomes propelled by an aromachemical I can’t pinpoint but which gives the composition fantastic push through the day. Intensely formal and far from mass pleasing, but a monumental progression in men’s perfumery. I ended up buying two backups.

Note: Gucci Guilty Absolute may have been an attempt at a modern Bel Ami but it was a false dawn compared to this.

Ferragamo Spicy Leather by Salvatore Ferragamo (2021) is from what I can tell, an exclusive special edition flanker to Ferragamo Eau de Toilette by Salvatore Ferragamo (2019), arriving hot on the heels of Intense Leather by Salvatore Ferragamo (2020) of the previous year, and only available from Harrod's of London. These kind of old spiced leather scents, whilst once immensely popular among men in most Western regions of the globe, have long since become seen as staid and fusty, only worn by boomers, hipsters reveling in their own postmodernism, or vintage perfume enthusiasts; the latter group is likely not to ever trust a leather like this made after 1995 anyway, and as the sales of Gucci Guilty Absolute pour Homme (2017) proved, it wasn't worth the risk of a global release. Thus, the UK is the only place where men had a shot at this on the street, since more baroque interpretations of masculinity are still alive and well there thanks to a generally more-conservative society alongside a robust barbershop culture that values this sort of thing. The rest of us have to import Spicy Leather by Ferragamo, or just miss out as likely intended, especially in the US where cold algorithmic trend-consciousness dominates.

That said, if you're a huge fan of old spiced leathers like Aramis by Estée Lauder (1965), Hermès Bel Ami (1986), Moschino pour Homme (1990), or Vendetta pour Homme by Valentino (1991), you'll likely be somewhat disappointed by Ferragamo Spicy Leather; and this isn't because the scent is bad, but just because it still tries to be constrained and sensible in the modern way fans of this style do not want. A constrained or sensible Fahrenheit by Christian Dior (1988) has been tried many times, including by Dior themselves with successive flankers to the original, and all were met with tepid response. Sometimes "going hard" is the only way to go with a particular aesthetic choice, which is perhaps another reason we may never see this given wide release; if we do, it'll be right to discounters. The opening is saffron and sage with black pepper and a touch of lemon to bring it all out. There are no noticeable aldehydes here, no big smoky birch, no carnation. The heart of nutmeg, geranium, and patchouli make this green and a bit sparkly, until the rounded suede vibe with a touch of sourness from isobutyl quinoline shows up. The rest is evernyl, woody-amber compounds, and brown mush. Nice, dapper, but nothing to scream about.

Performance of Ferragamo Spicy Leather is long but not particularly strong either. You won't get nuclear projection like with 80's leather monsters, no castoreum for an animalic skin feel, and no sharp nostril-burn like with mid-century leathers or older. For those who think Knize Ten (1924) or English Leather (1949) too powdery and sharp, or Chanel Antaeus (1981) too dark and monolithic, there may be room for Ferragamo Spicy Leather in your heart. This scent avoids the usual challenging pitfalls that make dedicated leather scents so anti-commercial in a blue-drowned 21st century men's designer fragrance market, and for the black oiled boots photorealistic leather fans that worship the Tom Ford stable of leather scents, Ferragamo Spicy Leather will feel just too Wilson Leather or Eddie Bauer for your tastes. No dominatrix or Tom of Finland here, chaps. A nice worn pair of moccasins or penny-loafers, further dialed down and smoothed to feel more like the made-for-TV movie equivalent of them is what Antoine Maisondieu served up high-end British customers of Harrod's with Ferragamo Spicy Leather, so unless hand-wringing constraint is your cuppa, you're not missing out here. Neutral