Vera Wang for Men: Leather, Sandalwood & Tobacco Notes

At a glance

Vera Wang for Men is a spicy woody eau de toilette launched in 2004 as the companion to the designer’s first fragrance. It opens on yuzu and mandarin leaf, turns dry and spiced with nutmeg, anise and leather, and settles on sandalwood and tobacco.

Parfumo and FragranceReview credit the perfumer Jean-Marc Chaillan; Fragrantica names only the fragrance house IFF. It remains in production, marketed today by Coty according to Parfumo.

Creation and context

Vera Wang built her name on bridal wear before expanding into ready-to-wear, accessories and fragrance. Her first perfume, the Vera Wang of 2002, won the Fragrance Foundation’s FiFi award in 2003 under Unilever Prestige, which then held the licence. This fragrance followed in 2004; Fragrantica, Parfumo and FragranceReview all give that year.

The brand’s bridal identity carried over. Fragrantica describes the launch campaign as built around a wedding.

In 2005 Coty bought Unilever’s prestige fragrance licences, Vera Wang among them, according to Wikipedia’s history of Coty and contemporary press reports. Parfumo lists Coty as the fragrance’s current marketer. According to Parfumo, the bottle was designed by Ateliers Dinand.

The composition

Vera Wang has not published the formula. Fragrantica, Parfumo and FragranceReview give the same seven notes, arranged in three tiers.

The structure is short and clear. Yuzu, the Japanese citrus, is tarter and more aromatic than lemon or bergamot, and mandarin leaf adds a green, slightly bitter note that reads as freshly crushed leaves. The heart and base then move steadily toward warmth: nutmeg and anise give spice without heat, and the leather and tobacco are handled lightly enough to keep the fragrance in the fresh-to-woody range rather than the heavy leather category.

Why it matters

Vera Wang for Men is not a historical landmark. It is a good example of how designer houses expanded their fragrance lines in the early 2000s: a first launch, then a counterpart under the same name, sold through department stores on the strength of the designer’s image. The fragrance business mattered to the brand: Wikipedia’s list of FiFi winners records Vera Wang’s own induction into the Fragrance Foundation’s Hall of Fame in 2008.

Its composition is more interesting than that description suggests. At a time when many launches were aquatic or sport-fresh, it paired an Asian citrus with anise, leather and tobacco, and Parfumo’s community classes the result as spicy-woody with sweet and fresh facets.

It also shows the fate of many licensed fragrances. Launched under Unilever, it passed to Coty within a year and has stayed on sale at modest prices, often through discount retailers rather than the department stores where it began.

Reformulation and editions

The fragrance was issued as an eau de toilette. Parfumo also lists a matching after-shave. No flankers of this fragrance and no reformulation are documented in the sources used here.

Because the Vera Wang name also covers other fragrances, including the 2002 original and the Princess line, check that the box reads “for Men” when buying. The featured bottle, a rectangular flacon with amber juice and a dark cap, is the one to look for.

Wearing it today

Expect a tart, green citrus opening that fades into dry spice and then a soft sandalwood-and-tobacco base. It is light enough for the office and warm enough for autumn evenings; two or three sprays are enough. Parfumo’s users rate its longevity and projection as moderate, so reapply for a long evening. The anise is the note most likely to divide opinion; if you dislike liquorice, test it on skin before buying.

It is widely available at low prices, which makes it an easy way to try a leather-and-tobacco idea without a large outlay. If you like it, compare it with other spicy woods that use tobacco more heavily before committing to a full bottle.

Related entries

Sources