Fendi’s First Major Fragrance Line Celebrates a Special Milestone

“The more you wear a perfume, the more it changes and adapts to your personality and your skin,” says Delfina Delettrez Fendi, jewellery designer and fourth-generation member of the Fendi family, from the wraparound terrace of the brand’s Rome headquarters. She’s in town for the unveiling of a new fragrance collection: seven scents created by three world-renowned perfumers. Each scent is inspired by a member of the Italian fashion family — from Delfina’s mother, Silvia Venturini Fendi (the brand’s creative director of accessories, menswear and children and the creator of the iconic Baguette and Peekaboo bags), to former artistic director Kim Jones to, of course, Delfina herself.

Delettrez Fendi, who launched her namesake jewellery line in 2007, says there’s a parallel between her line of work and perfumery. “Jewellery can be so powerful,” she says. “It’s a silent storyteller, and the more you wear it, the more it becomes yours. It absorbs and affects your energy and attitude. The same can be said about perfume. Plus, the process of creating each can be infinite. Somebody needs to step in and stop you so you don’t go on forever.”

Surprisingly, fragrance is a relatively new world for her.

“I never used to wear perfume because I wasn’t able to connect to a scent. I’m not just saying that for this interview,” she laughs. She worked with French perfumer Quentin Bisch to create Sempre Mio (which translates to “always mine” in English) for the collection.

A warm blend of bergamot, cedar- wood and orange blossom, Sempre Mio is a nod to Delettrez Fendi’s childhood in Morocco. “I wanted to talk about who I am, where I come from,” she says.

Bisch, who created four of the seven Fendi fragrances, explains that developing scents based on stories of other people’s memories was a unique challenge that he approached by searching for shared experiences between himself and the family members.

“The only thing you can do is be true to your own sensations and memories,” he says. “I infused each perfume with that genuine emotion and then hoped that it would trigger the same kind of recognition in others. After all, there are commonalities that we all share, experiences that we all experience.”

Take, for example, Perché No (which means “why not?” in English), the scent inspired by Venturini Fendi.

“Silvia was talking about white linens drying in the garden — which is an image we all have in our heads — and a cocoon-like home,” says Bisch. “So I thought of my own cocoon that I grew up in, which was a countryside home. My mother would hang white linens in the garden in the exact same way, only in my experience there was also a chimney and these old wooden closets where the clothes would later get put away. So Perché No is a perfume about white shirts and linens drying in the sun, plus the smokiness of a chimney and the woody smell of the closets. I found a common point between her memories and mine. There were two different ways we lived these memories, and the perfume is that meeting point.”

Though Delettrez Fendi may not have connected to another fragrance before Sempre Mio, she cites Perché No as another new favourite. “It took me back to this memory of being out with my mom, Silvia, in her car when I was a child and the smell of the leather seats mixed with her perfume. It created this incredible mix that I was able to find in Perché No. I hadn’t thought about that car in years, but with the perfume, I remembered every detail, every colour.”

It’s obvious that the fragrance collection is a point of pride for Delettrez Fendi. “Each of these scents was conceived with a loved one in mind,” she says. “And when you do things with love, they just work.”

The Group of Seven

Introducing the distinct scents that make up the new Fendi fragrance collection.

Sempre Mio

A second-skin-like fragrance that Delfina Delettrez Fendi describes as “an intimate journey.” Creating this scent “opened me up to incredible memories that I wouldn’t have been able to remember without smell,” she says.

Ciao Amore

A nod to Venturini Fendi’s youngest daughter, Leonetta Luciano Fendi, and developed by perfumer Fanny Bal, Ciao Amore is a solar fragrance with notes of orange-blossom absolute, fig-leaf accord and tonka-bean absolute.

Prima Terra

Inspired by Kim Jones and created by Bisch, Prima Terra is a nod to Jones’s childhood in Southern and Eastern Africa. It features notes of tangerine, rosemary, wood and leather. “We worked around the idea of the first drops of rain on the warm earth,” says Bisch.

Casa Grande

Quentin Bisch crafted Casa Grande in honour of Adele Casagrande, the Fendi family matriarch. It’s a strong and sensual blend of cherry, incense and leather that pays tribute to its bold founder.

Dolce Bacio

Perfumer Anne Flipo created Dolce Bacio with second-generation family member Anna Fendi in mind. It features notes of rose, apricot and patchouli. “It’s the scent that personifies my mother,” says Silvia Venturini Fendi. “A woman who is both very strong and very gentle — a trait common to all Fendi women.”

Perché No

Formulated with notes of white linen, pink peppercorn, incense and sandalwood, Perché No is inspired by Venturini Fendi and the epitome of comfort and freshness.

La Baguette

Flipo created La Baguette in honour of Delettrez Fendi’s twin sons, Tazio and Dardo Vascellari Delettrez Fendi. The fragrance is, of course, named after Venturini Fendi’s iconic bag, designed for the fashion house in 1997. “I was pregnant when I designed the Baguette bag,” she says. “It’s a timeless piece that will always be associated with the idea of a new generation.”

This article first appeared in FASHION’s Winter 2025 issue. Find out more here.