Sì

Sì means yes, and Armani built a 2013 launch on exactly that: agreement given to yourself, to your own choices, to independence. Cate Blanchett fronted it from the start, which set the tone far more effectively than any tagline could. Christine Nagel is the perfumer usually credited with the composition, a few years before Hermès took her on as its exclusive nose, and the fragrance landed just as the chypre was being quietly reinvented into something rounder and more comfortable than its bitter oakmoss ancestors.

Armani's own description keeps it short: luminous blackcurrant nectar and mandarin at the opening, orange blossom in the heart, warm vanilla underneath, with rose and woody vanilla named as the key notes. The fuller reading adds detail without changing the shape. Cassis leads, and it is the syrupy, faintly green, slightly sulphurous blackcurrant that gives Sì its immediate recognisability. May rose and freesia soften the middle into something floral but never fussy. The base is where the fragrance actually lives, with vanilla, patchouli, woody notes and ambroxan blended so smoothly that they are hard to pick apart, producing a warm, faintly powdery skin scent that outlasts the fruit by hours.

It is often called a modern chypre, which is not quite right technically, but it occupies the same emotional territory: grown-up, polished, more confident than sweet. It moves from a boardroom to a dinner without changing character, and it is comfortable in most weather, though a Cape winter flatters its warm base more than a humid coastal summer does.

Performance is a strong point. Eight hours is typical and ten is common, the projection moderate and kept within a personal radius rather than announced across a room, and the base clings well to clothing. Armani has since built out the line with Sì Passione and other concentrations, so it is worth checking which one you are actually smelling, because the Passione is noticeably redder and more floral and the two are frequently confused at counters. Sì itself has been in continuous production since launch.