Gentleman
Pear is the material that announced the 2017 rebuild of this fragrance, and Givenchy Gentleman Eau de Toilette is where you find it, a long way from the powdery original the name used to stand for.
It opens juicy and green. Pear is sweet without being sticky, closer to the fruit than to a dessert, and violet leaf cuts straight across it with a cool green sharpness that smells faintly of crushed stems. The pairing is bright, slightly synthetic in the best sense of the word, and recognisable at once to anybody who has smelled the fragrance on someone else.
The middle is quieter and more traditional. Orris brings a dry, powdered, faintly earthy elegance, the kind of material that makes a fragrance smell tailored, and lavender adds its clean aromatic lift, so the fruit is gradually replaced by something grey and well pressed rather than sweet. Then leather and patchouli take it somewhere else entirely. Leather here is smooth rather than smoky, suggesting a jacket rather than a tannery, and patchouli lends earth and depth beneath it. The journey from green pear to soft leather over an hour or so is the point of the composition.
The 2017 composition is credited to Nathalie Lorson and Olivier Cresp. Of the concentrations in the line this is the lighter one, good for five or six hours with a polite trail, which makes it a sensible all year choice for work and for daytime. It reads masculine and it is easy to wear, which is exactly what has kept it selling since it appeared. The maison dates from 1952, when Hubert de Givenchy began making clothes in Paris. Perfume came later and is now an LVMH business of its own.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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