The future is female, and Idôle, Lancôme’s newest fragrance, is inspired by confident femininity. Idôle is a clean yet musky, chypre floral fragrance. Actress Zendaya Coleman (though she often simply goes by Zendaya), who was announced as Lancôme’s youngest-ever ambassador in February, is the face.

Set to launch in late August, the scent was created through the collaboration of three female perfumers from three different continents. Shyamala Maisondieu, from Malaysia and London, composed rose and jasmine for the floral heart notes; meanwhile, Nadège Le Garlantezec, from Paris, balanced patchouli and musk to create the white chypre base notes. Finally, Adriana Medina, from the U.S. and Colombia, crafted the opening top notes of bergamot and pear.

Idôle is housed in a slim glass bottle, measuring 15mm thick—a rarity in the world of fragrance packaging, which often favours stately bottles. Its warm rose hue is described as “optimistic,” giving a whole new meaning to rose-tinted glasses. “Recharge” stations will be set up at select retail locations, to allow consumers to refill the bottle in the hopes of reducing environmental impact.

 

“While for many decades, exterior status symbols partially dictated the design of beauty objects, in today’s world it is weightlessness and travel-friendliness that set the tone for the scale of value,” said architect Chafik Gasmi, who designed the packaging. “This is why a fun, easy-to-handle perfume bottle that fits into the palm of the hand—that may be laid flat, slipped into a pocket, and taken along anywhere—is a companion whose extreme discretion contributes to its extreme distinctiveness.”

For more on the bottle design, the perfume and Zendaya, stay tuned for the September issue of ELLE Canada.