Escada
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The ambrette seed asserts itself immediately with that peculiar muskiness that smells almost like skin and seeds crushed together, whilst the pear floats just above it—soft, slightly wan, more conference than comice. There's a coolness to this opening that feels almost damp, as though the fruit has been kept in a cellar rather than a fruit bowl.
The rose emerges with a powdery, old-fashioned quality, its edges softened by the creamy ylang ylang which never quite blooms into full tropical headiness but hovers at the threshold. Those aquatic notes create an unusual transparency, as though the florals are suspended in mineral water, their colours slightly diluted but their contours still distinct.
The musk takes over completely, merging with whatever traces of ambrette remain to create a second-skin effect that's neither overtly animalic nor entirely clean. It's a quiet, almost austere finish—intimate and close-wearing, with just the faintest ghost of rose petals pressed between the pages of an old book.
Especially defies the usual Escada formula of fruit-basket exuberance, opting instead for a more pensive, almost melancholic florality that hovers in that peculiar space between dewy freshness and muted sweetness. Jean-Michel Duriez has crafted something quietly subversive here: the ambrette seed lends a musky, almost skin-like vegetal quality that grounds the pear from the outset, preventing it from skewing into the sort of synthetic juice-bar territory one might expect. This isn't about crisp, snappy fruit; it's about the softer, slightly bruised flesh near the stone, with a powdery texture that suggests something more intimate than celebratory.
The rose at the heart carries that same diffused quality, its petals seemingly viewed through frosted glass, whilst the ylang ylang adds a creamy, almost narcotic whisper rather than full-throated tropical lusciousness. Those aquatic notes are the real curiosity—not ozonic or marine in the conventional sense, but rather like the cool, mineral scent of water poured over river stones, creating a subtle tension against the florals. It's a fragrance that feels private rather than projective, as though it exists primarily for the wearer's own contemplation.
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3.9/5 (167)