Max Mara introduces Le Parfum, its first fragrance developed with Shiseido, with Florence Pugh as the face of the campaign. The launch arrives during the Italian fashion house’s 75th anniversary year and marks the first release under the fragrance licensing agreement Max Mara and Shiseido signed in 2024.
FRAGRANCES
Perfumers Marie Salamagne and Fabrice Pellegrin created Le Parfum around tuberose, vanilla and musky woods. The composition opens with fresh tuberose flower from Grasse and tuberose absolute from Guatemala. Vanilla forms the heart, followed by sandalwood and cedarwood at the base. The formula also incorporates Australian sandalwood essence and benzoin extract.
The concept takes direct inspiration from Max Mara coats, particularly the 101801 coat, which the house first introduced in 1981. Shiseido approached fragrance as an invisible final layer that a woman applies before leaving home, connecting the warmth and enveloping quality of a coat with the experience of wearing perfume.
A lacquered camel-colored band wraps around the glass and features stitching details that recall a belt. A button-shaped cap with gold accents completes the design.
Florence Pugh introduces Le Parfum through a campaign photographed by Mario Sorrenti. The images show the actress wrapped in a camel Max Mara coat inside a minimalist room. Sorrenti approached the photographs as intimate moments of self-assurance and drew on the emotional intensity he associates with Pugh’s screen work.
Pugh connects the fragrance with the same confidence she finds in Max Mara clothing. She describes the house’s clothes as pieces that support the wearer and allow women to feel composed and comfortable in themselves. Her relationship with perfume follows a similarly personal approach. She wears fragrance for herself and views scent as something that helps her feel grounded and present.
Shiseido also sees Pugh as an internationally recognizable face who can connect Max Mara with its intended fragrance audience. The Academy Award-nominated actress will next appear in the adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.
