Light Blue (fragrance)

Light Blue is a fragrance line by Italian fashion designers Dolce & Gabbana which was launched in 2001 and has won numerous fragrance-industry awards. The men's version (Light Blue Pour Homme[1]) was released in 2007 and has also won awards, including the FiFi Awards in 2008.

Starting in 2012, limited-edition versions for women and men have been released periodically. These fragrances have been launched with photoshoots rather than with traditional advertising campaigns and have featured the same male and female models as the original scents.

Background

The Italian design duo, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, contracted with perfumer Olivier Cresp to develop a fragrance inspired by Sicily. The process took over two years to perfect and the women's fragrance was released in 2001.[2]

Original range

Limited editions

Reception

In The New York Times in 2007, Light Blue for women earned a 5 (out of 5) star rating.[4] In 2008, Light Blue for Men won the best men's fragrance as well as best new fragrance commercial at the FiFi Awards.[12][13] As of 2012, the Light Blue fragrances had received fourteen awards.[14] Light Blue was one of twelve fragrances selected for an exhibition entitled "The Art of Scent 1889-2012" curated by Chandler Burr, head of the Department of Olfactory Art of the Museum of Arts and Design.[15] The Fragrance Foundation announced that both the male and female fragrances were in the top 7 selling fragrances for the first quarter of 2015.[16]

Advertising

The initial advert for the fragrance was filmed in 2007 in Capri, Italy with models David Gandy and Marija Vujović wearing tiny white swimsuits and kissing on a raft.[17] The voice is that of the French voice over actor Pierre Maubouché, who also voiced the subsequent TV commercials, also aired worldwide. According to British researchers, the advertisement is among the sexiest television adverts.[18]

In 2010, the adverts featured Gandy with model Anna Jagodzińska.[19] Instead of the raft, the models are seen in tiny white suits before swimming to shore where they embrace. Both versions of the advertisements were shot by fashion photographer Mario Testino in the waters off the island of Capri.

In May 2013, Dolce & Gabbana released their third version of the “Light Blue” fragrance campaign. Testino again filmed the commercials and adverts on location in Capri but this time with Italian model Bianca Balti in the female role opposite Gandy.[20] In 2015, InStyle magazine included Light Blue as one of 'The 10 Hottest Perfume Campaigns'.[21]

Balti and Gandy participated in a photoshoot in support of the 2015 limited versions with photographer Victor Demarchelier.[22][23]