Red Leather
Eau de Parfum, Ferragamo (2024)

Red Leather by Ferragamo (2024) is a rather pleasant surprise, coming across mostly as a spicy-fresh vetiver and woods scent, with wisps of the leather found in past releases in this line. With two blue, one gold, one white, and now one red entry into the Ferragamo Eau de Toilette (2020) range, the entire thing is shaking up to be a signature-worthy ensemble for those few traditional "men's cologne" buyers out there that still like the idea of a replete range of options all under one heading. I may not have ever felt as strongly about some as I do others, although taken as a whole, the range is far more respectable than a lot of junk other designers are pumping onto counters, as the entire mid-priced designer tier itself erodes in favor of up-market pseudo-niche exclusivity.

The opening has a nice ginger mixed with some citruses, aromatic rosemary, and white floral elements boosted with hedione. There is something additionally peppery here, like a red pepper or paprika, that then leads in with some violet and iris ionones before the vetiver and woody materials take hold. A reasonable attempt at a dry red sandalwood appears, not unlike so many recent sandalwood takes on the niche market, minus the "pickle" element I find so off-putting. There is that rough bit of dirty brown shoe leather found in the other flankers since Ferragamo Intense Leather (2021) hit the market, but it is downplayed here in favor of the vetiver and woods. A bit of ambroxan finishes this off in a most pleasant way, but not in an aquatic or "blue fragrance" way, to be clear. Performance is not "beastmode", so therefore not enough for the chest-thumpers out there.

Assuming you're not completely anosmic from years of neurotic overspray, or trying to have a territorial marking wherever you go (lift that leg elsewhere or be in danger of losing it if I see you), Ferragamo Red Leather is perfectly sufficient to amble around in or use at work. Something like this has quite a bit of versatility and seasonal range, plus is lovely if you're a vetiver or ginger fan. A real dark horse surprise that feels unmistakably masculine to me, yet also modern and fresh, Red Leather avoids droning on in the same tired AI-researched tropes as 75% of the remaining men's designer market these days. There's no bubblegum here, no showergel, no "aim to please and shoot to thrill" sleaze, and no gimmicks otherwise. People will still try to call this a copy of something, or compare it to something else, but they will fail. Nice job Ferragamo. Thumbs up