Robert Piguet has launched Petit Fracas, a new flanker to 1948's Fracas.
Play the game of love with Petit Fracas de Robert Piguet. The scent has an audacious air, inspired by our iconic Fracas. Petit is fresh, youthful and feminine, with a playful innocence. Flirtatious and charming, Petit Fracas opens with notes of fresh citrus and pear. At the heart of the scent is a foral with a vintage edge: tuberose and white flowers. Sophisticated, with a touch of whimsy, the base is underscored by the elegance of musk and sandalwood sprinkled with a touch of chocolate.
Elegant and enchanting, but not too serious, Petit Fracas is a chic floral bouquet, perfect for flirty fashionistas or fashionistas at heart.
Additional notes include bergamot, mandarin, gardenia and jasmine.
Robert Piguet Petit Fracas is available in 100 ml Eau de Parfum, and can be found now at Selfridges in the UK, £130.
(quote via robertpiguetparfums, additional information via selfridges)
If you missed it, check out this video in which Joe Garces of Robert Piguet talks about Petit Fracas.
Update: see a review of Petit Fracas.
Urgh, this is all kinds of wrong. A youthified Fracas with pear a chocolate is not the direction I want to see Piguet taking. And that price point seems hardly youth-appropriate.
Maybe I’m in an extra-grumpy mood today but there’s a weird Toddlers & Tiaras vibe about this and I don’t understand why some things just can’t be left for, y’know, grown ups.
Ha…watch the video, it’s geared towards Garces’ 30 year old daughter, so presumably she *is* a grownup. Fracas, these days, is for perfumistas, everyone else, grownup or not, needs Petit Fracas or that Douglas Hannant thing.
For crying out loud!
I have just bought a bottle of this. I was googling Petit Fracas and stumbled upon an ad in the local online classified ads. The woman had an unopened bottle she wanted to sell so I contacted her and made the exchange the next day.
The scent is certainly reminiscent of the original Fracas but this one opens with dominant fruit notes and the dry down is a gorgeous chocolately floral. It can definitely be worn by people of all ages and should also appeal to those who can’t wear the original. I think it’s fun, flirty and gorgeous. I love it.
So glad to hear that! I did not love the Douglas Hannant & assumed this one was likewise “thin”.
That’s good to hear although I still get annoyed when they the reject the (“stinky, perfume-y, old lady”) juice while happily exploiting the iconic name. I probably wouldn’t have batted an eye-lid had they issued it as a stand-alone release, but, like I said, I’m probably just being cranky.
But why not a Petit Fracas? The icon has great DNA.
As I mentioned above (and, obviously, this is just a visceral reaction to the marketing materials) a “petit”, candified version of Fracas feels about as right as a 4-year old pageant queen in full make up and high heels.
If they are aiming this at women in their 30s then I guess I’m the target audience which surprises me because it sounds so infantile. IF the juice is good then, imo, the name/copy/marketing is doing it a disservice.
Ahhh, I get it. B/c “petit” for you is like “mon” is for me. Whenever they put “mon” in a name it reminds me of a children’s toy like My First Sony, My Little Pony or My First Zoo. To me “Mon” Jamin Noir sounds like Jasmin Noir for babies.
I guess “petit” sounds charming to me, and not at all childlike, given that there are petit adult things like petite robe noire and petit mort. But I take your point.
Petit, fresh, youthful, playful innocence, sprinkled with chocolate…I seriously assumed it’s being aimed at someone half my age 😀
Did you read Candy Perfume Boy’s take on Petit? He has a great point: some of the flankers of the classics – he refers to them as “demi-classics,” I believe, are worthy of their pedigree. Shalimar Parfum Initial being one, and Chanel No.5 Eau Premier another. I say give them a chance. What can we learn from a sniff?
That being said, we all abhor what’s been done to Miss Dior, the original Dolce & Gabbana (at least I do), and others. A flanker must be well done, and in my opinion, have at least something to do with the original.
I didn’t say I was anti-flankers. It’s the seemingly infantile “candies & giggles, yay” nature of this one that I’m not keen on.
Abyss, just ingore all the silly PR bit (says a former PR person) and give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised 😉
Oh I’ll happily give it a sniff next time I’m in Selfridges. I have my cantankerous moments but, ultimately, it’s all about the juice. Besides, I have a soft spot for Piguet so I would be thrilled to be proven wrong on this one.
Thanks Robin for yet another wonderful piece. Also thanks to Lady M for such a wonderful description of Petit Fracas. After my initial shock (yes my first thought was ‘how dare they’), I have to admit that this is a flanker concept that makes sense, especially in light of flankers of iconic fragrances that work such as Chanel Eau Premier and Shalimar Initial (fan of both – felt they paid homage to the originals in a smart way).
I’d like to also add that I’m glad they didn’t reformulate the original to appeal to the “young” and “modern” generation.
I’ll spritz to that.
Wholeheartedly agree
I have a perfume crush on Joe Garces so I trust him. Glad to hear ladymurasaki’s impressions. Let the Piguet brand have a little fun!
Also hope they are including the Fracas in the name instead of a rename b/c this new one has the signature Fracas tuberose. Hope Petit Fracas is a true flanker.
There is a tuberose note, but don’t know how strong. I would rather it be a great scent than have tuberose — Douglas Hannant did not impress me despite the tuberose.
I can’t wear the original Fracas, though I do like it in the bottle just not on me, so I will try this. I do think it’s a bit silly not to just give Petit it’s own name but I too am relieved they didn’t destroy the original by reformulating it so I’ll forgive the obvious marketing ploy. It amuses me to think what the ad campaign slogan might be; “Petit Fracas, for women who only want to make a little noise” *chuckles*
LOL!! So true, and I didn’t even think of that.
Fracas with training wheels?
I’m really excited about this one ! The Candy Perfume Boy rated it very highly and only had great things to say about the fruit. I’m trusting his judgement and hanging out to buy a bottle . The chocolate sound so good , I think it’s going to be a popular fragrance once people come around to it ! Viva la Fracas .
Yes, the fruit notes are pretty dominant but they do recede in the dry down.
SOUNDS HEAVENLY!
I can’t ever do tuberose..even with chocolate.
I was going to write more or less what Abyss wrote in her first comment, but a) Abyss said it all so well; and b) Lady Murasaki’s mini-review persuaded me to calm down, even though I’m hard pressed to imagine myself falling for a chocolatey floral. I’m just not a huge chocolate fan, in perfume or in general — so I’ll stick with the original Fracas and be happy it wasn’t tinkered with (as Lady M wisely notes).