When it comes to scent, very few are actually iconic as the industry is over saturated and new brands come and go. However, one scent has proved itself over and over again throughout the past decade gaining a cult following thanks to it's unconventional masculine oriented note of musk. The fragrance? Narciso Rodriguez For Her. To celebrate the 10th anniversary, I spoke with the fashion designer and perfumer himself about the the beginning, his muses and the future.
Congratulations on the 10 year anniversary of "For Her!" If you were to launch the fragrance now, would you change anything?
Thank you very much! I would not do anything that’s fundamentally different. I love the scent as much now as I did more than ten years ago. In terms of fragrance, the things that inspired me while we were developing ‘for her’ are essentially the things that inspire me today – grace, sensuality and femininity. Egyptian musc would still be the central component - I’m sure of that.
Why do you think "For Her" has such a cult following?
‘for her’, for all its ingenuity, also has a certain universality that allows a woman to discover some aspect of herself within the fragrance – something that reflects her own personality. That sort of connection is rare and it can be addictive.
When creating the fragrance, what or who was your inspiration? Was there a particular woman in mind?
Inspiration comes in many forms. For me, while there were definitely women in my life who in one way or another informed my vision of femininity, a vision that ultimately led to ‘for her’, many other aspects played a role as well. Experiences, memories, etc, all influence the creative process. To answer your question, ‘for her’ had many muses.
Is there a celebrity or public figure that you think best represents the "For Her" woman today?
I’ve been very lucky in the past 10 years to meet so many women who love ‘for her’. The ‘for her’ woman isn’t necessarily best represented by someone in the public eye. It’s just as likely that she is an extremely private person who, when she wears ‘for her’ feels iconic, but who keeps that moment of pleasure for herself.
What's next? Do you see yourself creating another fragrance in the future or possibly dipping into cosmetics?
Fragrance is a key part of a woman’s wardrobe, and I enjoy the development process, so it’s something I’ll keep working at alongside the Ready To Wear collections for the foreseeable future. So yes, there will certainly be more to look for from us in the fragrance arena. As far as cosmetics are concerned, I love color and I love to experiment with it across many platforms, so while I can’t promise anything in the near term – you never know what the future holds.
In honor of the 10th anniversary, Narciso Rodriguez created a ‘for her’ Musc Oil that can be found at Nordstrom.
