This has been femininity in art throughout history

The quality of feminine, that set of characteristics that define the woman in opposition to the masculine is something that transcends any possible era. Feminine beauty has always been there, timelessly and, throughout the centuries, it has been the muse and inspirer of art, even its creator: the place from where everything is born. “Authentic beauty is a timeless quality that becomes more powerful for women over time, as they gain confidence and self-assurance,” says Narciso Rodriguez.

For this reason, 20 years ago, the American couturier designed a fragrance that, today, continues to be a symbol: that of a femininity beyond time, which endures and evolves. She is eternal. Narciso Rodriguez created an icon in the world of perfumery that pays tribute to the grace and elegance of women. How could it be otherwise, from the passion and vision of a designer with an aesthetic based on elegance and purity. And it is that his work has always been inspired by women, their beauty and their strength. For this reason, as a natural step, he transferred his vision of fashion to perfumery. And now, also to art.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of ‘for her’, the designer’s most iconic fragrance, art and perfume come together to celebrate feminine beauty as a timeless quality. They do so in the pictorial tour “The image of women. Muses and creators”, from April 19 to May 14 at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, a space where the designer was a frequent visitor during his stay in Madrid between 1997 and 2001. “I was going to be very inspired”, has confessed.

Through a journey through the history of Western art where the image of women and the evolution of femininity are at the center, Narciso Rodriguez has brought together 15 works from the museum’s permanent collection, between the 13th and 20th centuries. Free guided tours of the exhibition can be booked from Monday 10 April on the museum’s website.

The fragrance ‘for her’ could have been that of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni (1489-1490), portrayed by Domenico Ghirlandaio (Domenico Bigordi); Saint Catherine of Alexandria (circa 1598-1599) by Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) and Venus and Cupid (circa 1606-1611) by Peter Paul Rubens. Also of the two women who appear in La toilette (1742) by François Boucher or of the protagonists of Two female nudes in a landscape (circa 1926) signed by Otto Mueller. They are just some of the women who represent that feminine beauty as a timeless quality. Like the fragrance of her.

“I wasn’t looking for someone to create a fragrance for me and I just had to put my name on it at the end of the process. ‘for her’ is as much a part of me and my work as any dress or shoe I have created,” says the designer. It was two decades ago when he got personally involved in its creation: from the essence of the fragrance to the lacquer of the bottle and the shape of the stopper. Every detail counted. The first goal was both simple and bold: to develop a luminous floral fragrance from a unique heart of musk. It could not be otherwise.

Several years earlier, Narciso Rodriguez had received an unusual gift: a bottle of Egyptian musk oil with which he was fascinated by its expressive power and its exceptional ability to reflect and reveal the nature of whoever wears it. This intimate and powerful connection made it his personal signature: an olfactory autograph that he carried like a talisman.

The refined musk heart was enhanced by a combination of orange blossom with delicate osmanthus flower and completed by notes of soft amber, patchouli and a hint of warm woody notes. A modern and transparent version of a chypre fragrance, destined to become a classic. She was born ‘for her’.

Also the bottle expanded the limits of the technology of its time. Pure and sober, it was an art object in itself: a black rectangle suspended inside a translucent glass, like a bottle inside another. His design broke codes and changed the transparency typical of women’s fragrances for the black generally reserved for men. Playing with an emblematic color combination of the brand, the bottle arrived in a pale pink box, thus creating a juxtaposition between the darkness of the bottle and the delicacy that surrounds it.

Until today, when it continues to do so in its multiple versions. The birth of a modern classic sowed a seed that gave rise to a whole collection of colognes and perfumes that followed. Each fragrance in the ‘for her’ collection focuses on a unique expression of the exquisite heart of musk and highlights a different side of the woman. Eternally feminine. Elegant and sophisticated.

The latest to arrive in the collection has been the limited edition, ‘for her forever’, which perpetuates the legacy of Narciso Rodriguez and his musk with a brilliant new interpretation of his inimitable olfactory signature. Frangipani and gardenia join tuberose and jasmine to deliver a sweeping bouquet of radiant white florals, intertwined with the same creamy notes of osmanthus flower as the original fragrance. The softness of patchouli enriches the essence and creates a sublime aroma.

For the first time, the ‘for her forever’ bottle fuses delicate pink and enigmatic black. The result is a design with a spectacular black gradient, which fades to reveal the transparency of pure pink below. A powdery pink box, tied with an elegant pink ribbon, treasures the bottle of a fragrance that once again pays homage to the timeless beauty of women.