Giorgio Armani’s signature fragrance Acqua di Gio is instantly recognisable; its trademark scent and distinctly spare branding come together in a benchmark of the highly revered perfume house. Indeed, four bottles of the 1990s icon are sold every hour. The latest edition of the fragrance, Acqua di Gio Essenza, celebrates the origins of the Armani brand by way of a distinct composition. We spoke to self-trained master perfumer Alberto Morillas about the ‘fragrance of freedom’, blue skies and the Mediterranean.

What was your goal in composing Acqua Di Giò?
I wanted to create a fragrance as self-evident as a blue sky. Everyone understands “blue sky”, everyone “gets” it, has experienced it, just as they immediately understand Acqua Di Giò.

Can we call it a modern fragrance?
It is a fresh fragrance, light but tenacious thanks to the perfect balance of top and base notes: bergamot, neroli and calone but also cedar, patchouli and white musk. I like the idea of creating an unforgettable fragrance. One that is “faithful” until evening, and even beyond, for an eternal freshness. I wanted to marry freshness and sensuality in the same bottle.

How did Acqua Di Giò break with the past?
By including Calone, a high-tech molecule that offers a “seaside” effect. Calone introduced a new freshness to the world of fragrance and its aromatic-aquatic accord has inspired many compositions since.

What makes it an Armani fragrance?
Acqua Di Giò is the DNA of the Giorgio Armani brand. United by purity and elegance, this fragrance illustrates a form of streamlined simplicity- understated and chic. A wooden sailboat with cotton sails, soaked in salty seawater. The Mediterranean. A pure elegance sublimated by accents of citrus- reminiscent of freedom and escape….

Why can we say that this is a fragrance of freedom?
Acqua Di Giò is the promise of a holiday. A break. The simplicity, the boldness… an emotion – intellectual, instantaneous, cosmopolitan – evocative of the sun and well-being. A fragrance, pure, revealing a fluid and refined signature, understood by men and women alike.

In what way is Acqua Di Giò Essenza different from the original?
I would say more intense. Less iodine, less camphor but even more sensual, creating an affinity with the skin, and much more explosive. I was able to use two new Firmenich molecules in its conception: Cascalone and Paradisone. The first evokes the freshness and purity of spring water and the other, an extremely bright and vivid floral note, recalling jasmine petals. Not to mention an overdose of Ambrox with its woody-amber sensuality.