Francesco Ragazzi can now add “beauty brand founder” to his resumé.
Hot off the sale of his L.A-inspired streetwear brand Palm Angels, Ragazzi is launching a fragrance line called Réservation in partnership with Archive, the investment vehicle controlled by the Italian Ruffini family.
An initial collection of seven fragrances, all priced from $280-$320, will be available exclusively at the upscale L.A beauty retailer Violet Grey from March 3rd, before a wider rollout begins on March 24.
While California remains a perennial inspiration to Ragazzi, the new line is also informed by hotels, which he considers the meeting point of culture, hospitality and conviviality.
“Perfume is really a story,” said Ragazzi. “We created this imaginary hotel, and all the stories are to be inspired by the people and places and this mix of French savoir-faire and the California mindset.”
The hero scent, Suite 909, has smoky notes of black pepper, leather and lemon, while others line Bleu Piscine and Riviera Californienne have fresh vetiver, juniper and geranium and coffee, citrus and tonka bean respectively.
Prestige fragrance is a top-performing beauty category, as consumers show little signs of fatigue when it comes to high prices or consumption: many younger shoppers like to have “wardrobes” of scents and will layer multiple high-end fragrances to create a more bespoke effect. But Réservation joins a crowded marketplace, saturated with high-octane niche labels like D.S & Durga, Byredo and Amouage, as well as established fashion houses offerings from the likes of Rabanne, Guerlain and Dior.
Ragazzi’s plan is to tap into luxury codes outside of beauty to help position the brand as a lifestyle offering, more aligned with the worlds of travel, members’ clubs and the customs of jet-set, fashion-forward individuals than the casual beauty shopper.
“Scent is a visual memory,” said Ragazzi, describing a day in Palm Springs that could take one from a garden full of jasmine flowers into a swimming pool in the mid-afternoon. “Already, you’re envisioning what the perfume could smell like.”
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Ragazzi said the idea of hospitality was a shared inspiration between him and the Ruffini family, who have a 50 percent stake in the company alongside Ragazzi.
“[We] always want to link [the brand] to experiences… it needs to be something that you always want with you when you’re travelling, that creates excitement,” he said. Ragazzi has leveraged many of his fashion connections to make the brand happen — prior to launching Palm Angels, he was creative director at the luxury apparel brand Moncler, which is owned by the Ruffini family. Violet Grey, Réservation’s launch retail partner, was formerly under the umbrella of the e-commerce company Farfetch, which also owned Palm Angels’ parent company New Guards Group.
Ragazzi also tapped Frédérique Obin, who was formerly brand director at Hôtel Costes, the trendy Parisienne hotel, as the line’s artistic director. Obin previously helped create Hôtel Costes’ and the designer Thom Browne’s scent offerings. “We are building a hotel without having one…those memories of being in a hotel,” said Ragazzi.
To kick things off, the brand will host an event in Milan during fashion week, as well as seed the product to influencers and press. Ragazzi said that aside from his personal interest in perfume, the beauty world offered more permanence than fashion.
“I’m pretty excited because it also comes at a moment in my career where… I’m going with something that I think is more stable,” he said. “[Perfumes] don’t need to be changed after six months, you know.”
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