The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Giovanni landed in 2022 from Ménage à Trois, a young house still building out its catalog of fragrances that already includes Christine, Anne, Mark, and AVA. Perfumer Flavius Călaj composed Giovanni as an aquatic-spicy composition that takes its time arriving. The opening is marine and ozone, cold and clean, with the kind of salt-breeze clarity you expect from a water-led scent. But it doesn't stay there. A warm-spiced heart builds underneath, soft and rounded, and the base pulls the whole thing down to earth with moss, patchouli, and a soil-tinted depth that only lands once you've been wearing it for a while. Giovanni rewards patience.
What makes Giovanni interesting is the structural choice to anchor an aquatic composition with spice, fruit, and moss. Blackcurrant in the heart is sharp and almost bitter, giving the mid-phase a fruit-meets-barbershop tension that defines the scent's character. The blackcurrant arrives after the marine opening has settled, cutting through the ozone with a tart, almost wine-like edge, and it sits comfortably next to the warm spices that rise around it.
The evolution
The first twenty minutes belong to the marine accord, bright and slightly mineral, with bergamot and mandarin cutting through the ozone like sunlight through cold water. There's a barbershop sharpness early on, almost fougère-adjacent, before the blackcurrant and cardamom take hold and the composition pivots warmer. Mango softens the mid-phase, sandalwood rounds it, and the rose arrives quietly, supporting rather than announcing. By the third hour, the aquatic notes have receded enough for oakmoss, patchouli, and a thread of incense to take the floor. The cedar and ambergris keep it anchored while the musk softens everything into skin. The drydown is linear, a warm earthy aquatic that lingers close without demanding space. On fabric the next morning, it's mostly cedar and moss, quieter but still recognizable.
Cultural impact
Giovanni earns its place in the aquatic-spicy conversation by refusing to stay purely fresh. The oakmoss and incense hold on long enough to feel like a deliberate choice rather than a passing gesture, and the composition keeps its grip well into the late drydown when most marine scents have already faded into skin. Fragrantica's seasonal votes lean cooler, with winter and fall pulling stronger numbers than spring and summer, suggesting wearers tend to reach for it when the air turns crisp, though that doesn't mean it can't work in warmer weather.
