Acqua di Parma

Acqua Di Parma

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Fashion
Founded	1916
Headquarters	Milan, Italy
Products	fragrances, candles, bathrobes, leather accessories
Parent	LVMH
Website	acquadiparma.com

Acqua di Parma

Acqua di Parma is an Italian lifestyle company that produces fragrances, candles, bathrobes and leather accessories. All of its ranges are exclusively made in Italy, and distributed in 43 countries.

It was founded in 1916 in a small perfumer's laboratory in Parma. In 1993 the brand was revived by entrepreneurs Luca di Montezemolo (former chairman of Ferrari), Diego Della Valle (President and CEO of Tod's) and Paolo Borgomanero (a major shareholder of lingerie retailer La Perla).

The company was acquired by LVMH in 2001, and is now headquartered in Milan.

History

The company's original fragrance, Colonia, was created in 1916 in a small perfume factory in the center of Parma's historic old town.

At the time, the majority of commercial perfumes were much stronger and heavier in composition; so the unusually light and refreshing fragrance from Parma found wide success in Europe.

In the 1930s the increasing popularity of the cologne led to an increase in production and the development of its distribution. The thirties and fifties are described as a 'golden age' for Acqua di Parma Colonia, which became very successful among members of high society, with celebrity clientele.

Over the years, the brand expanded its product range, introducing feminine fragrances, Mediterranean-inspired home fragrances, a home collection that includes bathrobes and towels, and premium hand-crafted leather goods.

In 1998 Acqua di Parma opened its first boutique on Milan's Via del Gesù (in the Quadrilatero della moda district), followed by Paris’s Rue des Francs Bourgeois in Le Marais in 2012 and Rome’s Piazza di Spagna in 2014.

In May 2008 the company entered the luxury spa market with the Blu Mediterraneo Spa in Porto Cervo (Sardinia). In 2013 the company opened its second spa at the Gritti Palace in Venice.

In 2013, the company launched La Nobiltà del Fare (“The Nobility of Work”), a book focusing on stories of Italian arts and crafts excellence, featuring photography by Giovanni Gastel.

Products

Colonias

• Colonia (1916)
• Colonia Essenza (2010)
• Colonia Assoluta (2003)
• Colonia Intensa (2007)
• Colonia Oud (2012)
• Colonia Leather (2014)

Feminine fragrances

• Iris Nobile (2004)
• Iris Nobile Sublime (2012)
• Magnolia Nobile (2009)
• Gelsomino Nobile (2011)
• Rosa Nobile (2014)
• Acque Nobili (2013)
• Profumo (2008)

Blu Mediterraneo

• Arancia di Capri (2000)
• Bergamotto di Calabria (2010)
• Mirto di Panarea (2008)
• Fico di Amalfi (2006)
• Mandorlo di Sicilia (1999)
• Ginepro di Sardegna (2014)

Collezione Barbiere

Blu Mediterraneo Italian Resort

Home fragrances (room sprays and candles)

Home collection (bathrobes and towels)

Leather collections

Gli Esclusivi (luxury home and travel accessories)

Packaging

The company has continued the cylindrical bottles, rounded boxes and bright yellow packaging of the original product.

• 

  Acqua di Parma packaging

• Acqua di Parma Colonia.jpg

  The current packaging

• Acqua di Parma.jpg

  The former bottle

External links

• Official website