Versace used to put out some really edgy, dynamic and breathtaking masculine frags over the years such as Dreamer, Man, & Black Jeans. I don't even know how a mainstream designer house ever had the vision to release these given they were so far from mainstream consumption (strange top notes!!!) that they seemed destined for the niche crowd. It's no surprise all of them tanked in sales and some Versace execs were canned over their failure.
Of course that vision is now gone. It seems Versace is content to put out run of the mill frags like Man Fraiche which they didn't even bother composing (they bought Light Blue's formula from D&G) and Versace PH which is basically the sum of every fresh men's frag you smelled from the 2000's. Even YSL & Guerlain has fallen prey to this syndrome by putting out the inoffensive and excessively boring L'Homme & Homme (detect a pattern, Homme?). We saw the same thing in mainstream record/CD labels in the late '90's/early 2000's where any band/artist that had an ounce of originality and vision were tossed off the label in favor of blandness and safety. I guess the only consolation of this is you can still find these lost gems for very reasonable prices.
Given the recession, I hold no hope that Versace or even YSL/Guerlain will find it in themselves to regain that vision of yesteryear. When I think of the state of Versace now, I picture the last scene from Caligula where Emporer Caligula (played by Malcolm McDowell) is naked and bleeding to death.
Of course that vision is now gone. It seems Versace is content to put out run of the mill frags like Man Fraiche which they didn't even bother composing (they bought Light Blue's formula from D&G) and Versace PH which is basically the sum of every fresh men's frag you smelled from the 2000's. Even YSL & Guerlain has fallen prey to this syndrome by putting out the inoffensive and excessively boring L'Homme & Homme (detect a pattern, Homme?). We saw the same thing in mainstream record/CD labels in the late '90's/early 2000's where any band/artist that had an ounce of originality and vision were tossed off the label in favor of blandness and safety. I guess the only consolation of this is you can still find these lost gems for very reasonable prices.
Given the recession, I hold no hope that Versace or even YSL/Guerlain will find it in themselves to regain that vision of yesteryear. When I think of the state of Versace now, I picture the last scene from Caligula where Emporer Caligula (played by Malcolm McDowell) is naked and bleeding to death.
