Acqua di Parma

Founded 1916 · Parma, Italy

Acqua di Parma was founded in Parma in 1916 as a hand-made cologne in short runs, with its cylindrical mustard-coloured tin and the Art Deco label it still uses. Colonia is one of the few fragrances to have been in production for more than a century with practically no changes.

History

The house was founded in Parma in 1916 and its Colonia — a citrus of bergamot, lavender and rosemary over a vetiver base — became the perfume of the Italian bourgeoisie and, in the fifties, of the film industry: it is said to have been the cologne of the tailors at Cinecittà. The house languished until 1993, when three Italian businessmen — among them Diego Della Valle, of Tod's — bought and relaunched it. In 2001 it joined the LVMH group. Today it rests on three axes: the original Colonia and its variants, the Blu Mediterraneo citrus collection, and the Signatures of the Sun.

Iconic models

Colonia (1916)
Bergamot, lavender and rosemary. More than a century in production with the formula barely touched.
Blu Mediterraneo — Fico di Amalfi
From its Mediterranean citrus line: green fig and bergamot.
Colonia Essenza (2002)
The modern, drier reading of the original Colonia.

Worth knowing

The cylindrical mustard-coloured tin is not a retro nod: it is the original 1916 packaging, made that way because the house started out by hand and the cylinder was what its glassblower knew how to blow.